*
UN/VERSITY OF
HISTOET
OF
SAINT LOUIS CITY
AND
COUNTY,
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIODS TO THE PRESENT DAY
INCLUDING
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
BY
J. THOMAS SCHARF,
AUTHOR OF "CHRONICLES OP BALTIMORE;" "HISTORY OP MARYLAND;" "HISTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY AND COUNTY;" MEMBER OF
THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; MEMBER OP THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP PENN-
SYLVANIA; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OP NEW YORK, WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND
VIRGINIA; OF THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO; OP
THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC-GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, ETC., ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES, ILLUSTRATED.
. II.
PHILADELPHIA:
LOUIS H. EVERTS & GO.
1883.
Copyright, 1883, by Louis H. EVERTS & Co.
PRESS OF
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
PHILADELPHIA.
1 1
;
v-/
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
CHAPTER XXV. PAGE
St. Louis as a Centre of Trade 989
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Mississippi River and its Tributaries 1037
CHAPTER XXXV. PAGE
The Medical Profession 1515
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Culture and Literary Growth in St. Louis 1587
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Navigation on the Mississippi River 1087 Aft ftnd Artigtg 1617
CHAPTER XXVIII.
River Commerce of St. Louis 1123
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Music and Musicians I'i'-'S
CHAPTER XXIX.
Railroad* 1139 CHAPTER XXXIX.
CHAPTER XXX. Religious Denominations 1635
Trade. Commerce, and Manufactures 1213
CHAPTER XXXI.
Commercial Exchanges 1340
CHAPTER XXXII.
Banks, and other Financial Institutions, and Bankers... 1367
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Insurance — Telegraph — Postal Service — Gas — Hotels.... 1414
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Bench and Bar.... 1449
CHAPTER XL.
Religious, Benevolent, Social, Secret, and other Organi-
zations 1752
CHAPTER XL I.
Prominent Events — Mobs and Riots — Duels — Military
— The Towns of Carondelet, Herculaneum, and East
St. Louis 1820
CHAPTER XLII.
County of St. Louis 1870
I Hi L TJ S T IR, .A. T I O :ET S OIF
II.
PAGE
Alkire, Josiah facing 1239
American Baptist Publication Society 1673
Bailey, G. W facing 1506
Barclay, Shepard " 1510
Barnes, Robert A " 1388
Barnett, George 1 1435
Barr, William, Dry-Goods Company 1296
Barret, R. A facing 1508
Bates, Edward 1464
Belcher Sugar Refinery 1243
Bent, Joseph K facing 1366
Billon, F. L 1593
Bissell, Daniel facing 1856
Black, William S., Residence of. " 1880
Blewett, B. T " 1878
Bofinger, J. N " 1120
Bogy, L. V 1492
Boyd, Rev. W. W facing 1678
Branch, J. W " 1270
Brookmire, J. H " 1240
Brown, A. D " 1318
Brown. J. C " 1178
Buck, M. M " 1274
PAGE
Byrne, John, vlr facing 1036
Cahokiain 1840 1072
Carondelet, Plat of facing 1864
Carondelet in 1840. ..\ 1865
Castello, Charles fiicing 1888
Chamber of Commerce.'. 1359
Charless, Joseph facing 1390
Christy, A " 1070
Clark, W. G " 1326
Comstock, T. Griswold " 1561
County Court-House 1876
Cummings, J. K facing 1282
Custom- House and Post-Offiee 1437
Davis, Samuel C. & Co 1297
Day, F. 0 facing 1298
Dodd, Brown A Co 1302
Dorriss, G. P facing 1862
Dousman, H. L " 1620
Dozier, James ' 1236
Dyer, D. P " 1505
Eads, J.B 1051
Easton, A. R facing 1456
Easton, Rufus " I''1'
IV
ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME II.
PAGE
Famous Shoe and Clothing Company 1317
Farrar, B. G 1519
First Baptist Church Building in Missouri 1670
First Presbyterian Church 1703
Forsyth, Robert facing 1294
Gale, D. B " 1238
Garrison, D. R " 1170
Gast, August " 1335
German Protestant Orphans' Home 1916
Geyer, Henry S 1462
Good Samaritan Hospital 1565
Goodell, Rev. C. L facing 1746
Gould, D. B " 1616
Green, Charles " 1816
Green, William W " 1104
Hackemeier, Franz 1917
Haggerty, W. H facing 1306
Harrison, Edwin " 1266
Harrison, James " 1264
Hill, B. A " 1502
Hodgen, John T " 1534
Humphrey, F. W. & Co 1307
Jaccard, D. C facing 1320
Jaccard, E., Jewelry Company 1319
Jackson, John facing 1227
James, Samuel " 1889
January, D. A " 1351
Johnson, John B 1532
Kennard, J facing 1304
Kenrick, Archbishop 1644
Kingsland, Philip facing 1262
Kirkwood Seminary, View of " 1908
Kline, Lewis E " 1673
Lackland, R. J " 1402
Larimore, J. W " 1230
Larimore, N. G " 1229
Leeds, E. N " 1418
Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company 1248
Lindell Hotel 1444
Lionberger, John R facing 1086
Lucas, J. B. C " 1408
Lucas, James H " 1410
Lucas, James H., Residence of •... " 1412
Marquette on the Mississippi River 1636
Martin, Edward facing 1307
McKendree, Bishop 1685
McPheeters, W. M facing 1528
Merrell, J. S " 1288
PAGE
Meyer, C. F. G facing 1290
Moses, S. Gratz " 1531
Nicholson, David " 1242
Nidelet.J. C '• 1540
Paramore. J. W " 1198
Parsons. Charles " 1398
Peters, Joseph " 1328
Plant, George P '. " 1232
Pope, Charles A " 1530
Post, Rev. T. M 1745
Powell, R. W facing 1419
Pratt, Thomas " 1439
Primm, Wilson 1488
Rayburn, French facing 1260
Robertson, Right Rev. C. F " 1717
Rubelmann, George A " 1280
Ryan, P. J., Right Rev 1645
Samuel, E. M facing 1396
Schnaider, Joseph " 1333
Scholten, John " 1334
Schotten, William " 1246
Schulenburg, R " 1 324
Scruggs, R. M . " 1299
Scudder, John A " 1118
Second Baptist Church 1677
Section of Pier St. Louis Bridge 1077
Senter, W. M facing 1362
Shapleigh, A. F " 1278
Simmons Hardware Company 1276
Sire, Joseph A facing 1250
Smith, E. B " 1523
Southern Hotel 1448
Stevens, Charles W 1529
St. Louis Bridge facing 1074
St. Louis Cotton Exchange 1362
St. Louis Grain Elevator 1227
Swon, J. C facing 1102
Talmage, A. A " 1166
Vail 6, Jules " 1268
Van Studdiford, Henry " 1525
Walker, G. S " 1562
Walsh, Edward " 1162
Walsh, Julius " 1208
Watson, James S 1394
Wear, J. H., Boogher & Co 1300
Westermann, H 1285
Wolff, M. A facing 1037
HISTORY
OF THE
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAINT LOUIS.
CHAPTER XXV.
ST. LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
ST. Louis being located in the heart of the Missis-
sippi valley, in which are produced immense supplies of
breadstuff's, meats, fruits, and vegetables, accessible by
fifteen thousand miles of navigable rivers, with her
grand network of railroads penetrating all portions of
this vast valley, furnishing quick and cheap transpor-
tation for all the products of the soil, it must be ap-
parent that at no other place in the world where labor
is remunerative can staple provisions of the same
quality be furnished cheaper than at St. Louis.
Next to provisions in the cost of family expenses is
that of house-rent, or, differently stated, the expense
of living in one's own house. The house represents
capital, and it costs the owner as much to live in it as
it does the lessee, in either case the net rental being
measured by the net interest the money would produce.
In furnishing cheap, comfortable, and healthy houses
St. Louis offers rare inducements. There was a time
when this was not the case, and rival cities offering
greater inducements in this regard were largely bene-
fited thereby. When the heavy business was transacted
chiefly on the Levee and Main Street, the choice resi-
dence property was drawn within narrow bounds and
held at high prices ; and before sewerage and drainage
had transformed vast acres into choice building sites,
before railroad transportation, steam and horse, had
equalized values at remote points from business cen-
tres by furnishing cheap conveyance to and from all
points within the city limits, cheap homes were not
easily obtained in St. Louis. But a new and brighter
era has dawned upon her. Cheap homes can now be
furnished within easy access of business, shop, and
foundry, on finished streets, with gas and water, on or
ivenient to street cars. Building lots thus situated
63
can be bought and comfortable dwellings erected
thereon cheaper in St. Louis than in any city in the
United States having a population of one hundred
and fifty thousand.
To this fact more than any other may be attributed
the rapid growth of St. Louis during the last few years,
and it is also the best guarantee of her future pros-
perity. Cheap homes are the want of the million ;
they not only reduce the expenses of living, but the
people become owners of their own homesteads, and
once having an interest in the soil their local and
business interests become more closely identified with
the city's welfare, making her population more per-
manent and at the same time contributing to her
revenue.
Persons of limited means, mechanics and laborers of
industrious and saving habits, can by small monthly or
quarterly payments in a comparatively short period be-
come owners of their own homes without waiting to
provide all the money before purchasing. The making
of debts is not generally to be commended ; but to a
moderate extent in the purchase of a home, where
full consideration is received, they are not only com-
mendable but tend to stimulate energy, and the money
thus paid is better secured against loss than if invested
in any other manner. In addressing the Social Science
Association of Philadelphia, Mr. Cochran truthfully
said, —
" People who own the soil naturally feel that they
have a greater interest in the community, in its wel-
fare, peace, and good order, and they are fixed more
permanently to it as a place of abode ; and the laborer
or mechanic who is working to secure or pay for a
home is inspired with more ambition than one whose
abode is in tenement-houses, which can have no attrac-
tion to any man or his family. The system of separate
dwelling-houses for every family is in itself promotive
of greater morality and comfort, but the opportunity
989
990
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
of poor men to secure the ownership is an honorable
incentive to industry and frugality."
The means of locomotion within the city, the ac-
commodations for visitors, the capital of banks, and
the transportation facilities other than rail and river,
as collected in 1882 for the board of equalization,
present the St. Louis of to-day as being in the follow-
ing condition :
STREET RAILWAYS.
NAME OF COMPANY.
Numher of Horses.
Value per Head.
Number of Mules.
Value per Head.
Miles of Track.
Value per Mile.
Number of Cars.
Total Value of Cars.
Other Personal
Property.
Value of Real
Estate.
!'
1
Baden and St. Louis
17
$35
3i
$1500
8
$1,200
$140
$6 820
Benton and Bellefontaine
106
50
26
$30
(L
3000)
4?
8,800
750
$22,760
48,720
193
45
1 44
{5
1000 j
3500)
9 000
6720
32 850
83 810
Citizens', Fair Grounds and Suburban.
Lindell
251
361
45
45
75
40
50
50
1 3 62-100
f«
i
10 25-66
2500 }•
3500 J
2500)
1500 f
3500
56
70
19,200
17,900
2980
2600
22,800
79 440
94,520
159 430
277
45
18
50
3500
19,600
3000
57 240
122 960
65
45
28
50
6
2500
22
2,750
800
22 880
238
45
12
50
8
3500
SO
10,500
9300
59 110
268
45
174
60
3000
66
16,700
4460
38,100
125,860
65
40
10
45
(I
2200)
4,740
320
32,510
(5
1800 j
2000
2 000
Tower Grove and Lafayette
53
45
40
50
3 1-5
2500
?0
5,000
270
7,390
25,050
Union
203
45
7
50
8
3500
?4
7,200
2940
16,030
63,660 /
157
45
209
50
10
2500
68
14,600
4360
41,390
75,870
Name.
Atlantic
Barnum's
Beaumont
City
Commercial
Hotel Barnum ..
Belvedere
Hotel Hunt ,
Hotel Moser....
Hurst's
Ives House
Koetter's
Laclede
Lafayette Park.
Lindell
Mona House....
Planters' ,
St. James
The Southern-
Western
Windsor
Everett House.
Grand Pacific..
HOTELS.
Assessed Value
Proprietors. of Personal
Property.
....F.F. Burt $1,670
....L. A. Pratt U0,200
Hallie D. Pittman 1,890
....George Spilling il^OO
....James H. Morris x 1,600
....Mrs. M. L. Barnum 16,110
....Shickle, Harrison & Co 17,000
...Mrs. E. J. Polk 1,560
....Leo Moser 1,730
....James H. Hurst 3,220
...James 0. Ives x 6,800
...G. Koetter 2,3«0
....Griswold & Sperry 30,600
....Nelson Yocum 1,140
....Charles Scudder & Co 40,360
,...J. H. Tomb 1 1,800
...J. & J. Gerardi 15,440
...Thomas P. Miller 3,430
...The Southern Hotel Company 61,170
....M. C. Irish ^,000
...Windsor Hotel Company 6,000
...J. H. Hawley 3,250
...J. & J. Robertson 4,100
Name.
Value of
Real Estate.
International $12,820
Laclede
Lafayette 2,200
Mullanphy Savings 2,300
Northwestern Savings
Provident Savings 76,290
State Savings 54,660
Tenth Ward Savings 11,090
Union Savings 10,570
Merchant National 1,530
Valley National
Third National 112,130
Fourth National
St. Louis National 13,710
Total Value of
Assessment.
$91.650
250,000
50,000
128,060
55,390
100,000
1,251,640
46,590
128,130
805,000
272.500
1,161,030
584,000
569,140
Total $739,650 $10,040,550
EXPRESS COMPANIES, LIVERY-STABLES, ETC.
Total $230,760
BANKS.
Value of Total Value of
JSame< Real Estate. Assessment.
Bank of Commerce $185,890 $1,136,150
Boatmen's Savings 67,940 2,174,f>:',o
Bremen Savings 1,600 76,050
Citizen's Savings 23,400 139,930
Commercial ' 310,000
Continental 60,640 116,070
Franklin 38,250 224,221
German American 112. ,,0
German "Savings 63,630 . 267,700
1 Assessed by assessor, no return being made by owner.
Number
Name. of
Horses.
Adams Express Co 36
American Express Co 42
United States Express Co 35
St. Louis Transfer Co 206
Hazard Coal Co 40
Schuremann Bros. & Co 84
Eau Claire Lumber Co 59
Mount Cabann6 Milk Co 24
St. Louis Street Sprinkling Co. 28
Arnot, Jesse 55
Bensick, John C 20
Bohle, Louis C
Brockmann, ]> 35
Sherrick, L. P 20
Cullen & Kelly 22
CK-nicnt. N. S 24
Comfort, C. D. & Co 21
Crnm, C. N 22
Ganger, Jacob 25
Heitz, Christ 20
Herman, Fred 60
Value Number Total
per of Value of
Head. Vehicles. Vehicles.
$100
100
50
75
55
60
50
50
60
40
40
40
65
40
100
50
100
75
100
50
100
IS
23
17
99
10
55
30
11
15
49
10
32
16
15
15
16
14
14
10
7
25
S-'MlOll
2,950
1.700
14,750
500
2,235
750
550
1,400
5.300
2,000
5,000
1,500
6,000
2,000
1.120
2.250
4,000
210
2.500
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
991
Number Value Number Total
Name. of per of Value of
Horses. Head. Vehicles. Vehicles.
Kron, Aug 20 !?65 10 $1,000
Lawrence & Spelbrink 25 40 23 2,500
Maxwell, T. A J 33 70 3 150
Meyer, Adolph 30 40 17 3,600
Mueller, Henry 60 100 10 1,000
Keilly & Walfort 161 64 4 200
Scheele, H. & Son 20 80 10 5,000
Scott & Lynch 30 60 20 4,000
Wright, George C 20 100 9 3,600
Sloan & Ellis 80 37 4 250
Wolfinger, John & Co 22 75 14 500
The territory of which St. Louis is recognized as
the natural commercial and business metropolis is
indicated in the following table, with the miles of rail-
road they had in the years 1870 and 1879, respec-
tively :
States.
Miles
in 1870.
558
746
495
225
Kentucky (one-half)
Tennessee (one-half)
Mississippi (one-half)
Louisiana (one-half)
Illinois (one-half) 2411
Missouri 2000
Arkansas 256
Texas 711
Kansas (one-half) 750
Miles
in 1879.
797
850
670
272
3,789
3,740
804
2,591
1,052
Total 8052 14,465
In the ten years from 1870 to 1879 there was con-
structed in the territory we have set down as tribu-
tary to St. Louis six thousand four hundred and thir-
teen miles of railroad.
The increase of population in the territory of which
St. Louis is the natural commercial metropolis in the
ten years from 1870 to 1880 was as follows, the fig-
ures in all instances being from the United States
census :
States.
Kentucky (one-half)
Tennessee (one-half)
Mississippi (one-half)....
Louisiana (one-half)
Illinois (one-half)
Missouri
Arkansas
Texas
Kansas (one-half)
1870.
660,505
629,260
413,961
368,957
1,269,945
1,721,295
484,471
818,579
182,199
1880.
824,354
776,231
565,796
470,051
1,539,384
2,168,804
802,564
1,592,574
497,983
Total 6,549,192 9,237,741
All this territory, with New Mexico and Indian
Territory still farther south, constitute a part of the
vast back country of St. Louis. When it is consid-
ered, therefore, that this city has such surroundings as
have been here described ; that she is the very centre
of the most productive agricultural region of the
whole earth ; that she is in immediate proximity and
of convenient access to an inexhaustible deposit of
the purest iron ore in the world ; that she is at the
head of navigation from the south, and at the foot of
navigation from the north ; that she is sustained and
impelled forward by the immense, illimitable trade of
the great Father of Waters and his tributaries ; that she
has the material around her for building up the most
extensive and most profitable manufacturing establish-
ments that the world has ever known ; that all the
necessaries of life, the cereal grains and pork particu-
larly, are produced in all the region roundabout in
such profusion that living must be always cheap, and
that consequently she can support her population
though it should increase to almost indefinite limits,
when all these facts are considered, who can feel dis-
posed to set boundaries to her future progress t
It will be seen in view of the territory thus tributary
to St. Louis that she draws from a greater variety of
resources, from a greater extent of country, that she
is the centre of more mineral wealth, more agricultural
resources, and that she has the opportunity and is fast
endowing herself with the instrumentalities for obtain-
ing a vaster internal commerce than any other city in
the Union. Her manufactures are varied in kind and
character, and conducted with less expense than those
of any of her sister cities. Her population has been
steadily swelled by the influx of emigration ; her
wares and merchandise find their market in every
hamlet of the country, and compete in Europe with
those of older countries. Her credit, whether munic-
ipal, individual, or corporate, is unimpeached and
treasured as the most valuable of her jewels. It
should be borne in mind in estimating St. Louis' po-
sition among the great centres of trade in this country
that the territory strictly belonging to the system of
rivers which empty into the Gulf of Mexico has an
area of 1,683,000 square miles, including eighteen
States and two Territories, with a population of 22,-
000,000, which is increasing at the rate of about
thirty-two per cent, every ten years ; and that this great
region produced 300,000,000 out of the 450,000,000
bushels of wheat grown in the whole country in 1880,
besides 1,200,000,000 bushels of corn out of a total
produce for the same year of 1,500,000,000 bushels.
The collection of this grain into the granaries of
St. Louis is being carried on by the energetic
men who have banded together to accomplish the
great object of improving the trade and importance
of their city. Elsewhere the transportation facili-
ties and the storage capacity of the city have been
fully described. This business, for which rail and
river are competing, is vast enough for the capacity
of both, and must in a short time be greatly iu excess
of the terminal facilities afforded by existing lines of
communication. But St. Louis has also determined
to become the leading cotton market, and in view of
the railroad development ministering directly to her,
it is certainly no vain assertion to say that her posi-
992
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
tion is now first among the cotton markets of the
world. The opening of Northern Texas and the
whole of Arkansas to immediate connection by
rail with the Missouri commercial metropolis, and
the probable increase of cotton culture in the
Indian Territory, will give a back country capable
of producing millions of bales annually for St. Louis
to draw upon. She has already become the successful
competitor with Houston, Galveston, and New Or-
leans for the distribution of the crop of the Southwest,
and the encouragement received has justified her en-
terprising citizens in constructing the most complete
and extensive warehouses for cotton storage in the
world. The trade of St. Louis now controls the cot-
ton trade in certain sections of Arkansas and the
southern portion of Missouri, and has made such se-
ductive bids for the crop of Texas that many counties
in that State regard St. Louis as their most remuner-
ative market.
It was said of St. Louis in 1849 that "her com-
mercial prosperity is founded very largely, if not
chiefly, upon what is called the ' produce trade,' " and
the territorial limits of this trade were Illinois, Iowa,
and Missouri.1 Thirty years afterwards St. Louis
competed, as we have seen, sharply with Chicago for
the trade of Northern Missouri, Kansas, Southern
Nebraska, Colorado, the Territories tributary to the
traffic of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, and
for the transcontinental trade towards the Southwest,
embraced in the southern and central portions of Mis-
souri, the State of Arkansas, the larger part of the
State of Texas, and the northwestern section of
Louisiana, with the Indian Territory, and with Cali-
fornia by the Southern Pacific Railroad. New Or-
leans finds in St. Louis a rival for the trade of West-
ern and Northern Louisiana. The trade of the States
east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio finds
competition at St. Louis with New Orleans, Louisville,
Cincinnati, and Chicago, as well as the principal cities
of the Atlantic seaboard. The trade limits of St.
Louis east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio
cover Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and include the
through traffic with the States of the Atlantic sea-
board and with foreign countries. It is within these
vast territorial limits that St. Louis gathers the sur-
plus products of the people, and distributes to them
the supplies and general merchandise of her energetic
tradesmen, merchants, and manufacturers.
The railroads which converge upon and centre at
St. Louis are the following; :
1 Governor Allen's address to the directors of the Pacific
Railroad.
West Roads.
Chicago, Alton and St. Louis Railroad (Missouri Division).
Missouri Pacific Railroad.
St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad.
St. Louis, Wabash and Pacific Railway (West Branch).
South Roads.
St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad.
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad.
Belleville and Southern Illinois Railroad.
Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
Cairo and St. Louis Railroad.
East Roads.
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad.
Chicago, Alton and St. Louis Railroad (main line).
Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad.
St. Louis, Vandalia, Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad.
St. Louis, Wabash and Pacific Railway.
Illinois and St. Louis Railroad.
North Roads.
St. Louis, Wabash and Pacific Railroad (Iowa Division).
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (St. Louis Division).
St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railroad.
The variations of the receipts and shipments of the
commerce of St. Louis with the north are shown in
the following table :
Year. Beceived. Shipped.
Tons. Tout.
1871 297,680 93,842
1872 363,006 79,200
1873 353,206 80,806
1874 368,076 116,267
1875 286,318 122,751
1876 324,947 128,629
1877 233,158 114,827
1878 382,628 126,601
1879 445,621 132,760
1880 604,173 157,803
Turning to the east, we find a larger commerce
even than that with the north. The total receipts
from and shipments to the east were for the last
decade :
Year. Received. Shipped.
Tons. Tons.
1871 1,219,245 545,636
1872 1,341,545 688,264
1873 1,568,719 699,048
1874 1,540,632 746,037
1875 1,542,866 750,527
1876 1,510,527 1,026,291
1877 1,634.860 927,448
1878 1,770,548 1,119,406
1879 2,041,440 1,225,895
1880 2,508,704 1,325,004
From the south St. Louis received as well as
shipped the following commerce :
Year. Beceived. Shipped.
Tons. Tons.
1871 1,109,801 695,531
1872 1,392.080 836,089
1873 1,339,688 838,123
1874 1,196,534 767,819
1875 1,371,670 738,632
1876 1,310,534 696,577
1877 1,339,649 798,802
1878 1,290,606 832,018
1879 1,649,272 995,346
1880 1,853,577 1,492,216
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
993
The western commerce of St. Louis is exhibited
for ten years in the following table :
v Received. Shipped.
Tear- Ton*. Ton>.
1871 555,996 395,371
Mississippi River, the values standing for eastward
or via Atlantic ports at $17,000,000, and southward
or via New Orleans at $10,000,"000.
As illustrating the course of the internal commerce
from St. Louis, the following movements of cotton,
grain, flour, provisions, and live-stock will be found
instructive :
Articles. Direction. 1880. 1879.
Cotton, bales Shipped south 5.417 7,208
1872 605,652 406,393
1873 784,620 320,695
1874 793,216 307,878
1875 595,441 328,635
1876 974,467 408,678
1877 901,206 409,443
1878 1,056,225 417,209
1879 1,215,715 608,860
1880 2,023,930 818,182
" " " elsewhere 5,827 1,289
For the better comparison of the extraordinary
growth of the commerce of St. Louis during the' last
decade, the following table groups the tonnage of all
the sections :
Year. North. East. South. West. Total.
1871.... 391,552 1,764,887 1,805,332 951,367 4,913,102
1872.... 442,206 2,029,809 2,228,169 1,012,045 5,712,229
1873.... 434,012 2,267,767 2,177,811 1,105,315 5,984,905
1874.... 484,343 2,286,069 1,964,353 1,101,094 5,835,859
1875.... 409,069 2,293,393 2,110,302 1,024,076 5,836.840
1876.... 453,576 2,536,318 2,007,111 1,383,145 6,380,150
1877.... 347,985 2,562,308 2,138,451 1,310,649 6,359,393
1878.... 509,229 2,889,954 2,122,624 1,473,434 6,995,241
1879.... 578,381 3,267,335 2,644,618 1,824,575 8,314,909
1880.... 761,976 3,833,708 3,345,793 2,842,112 10,783,589
In these ten years the commerce of St. Louis in-
creased northward from 391,522 tons in 1871 to
761.976 tons in 1880; towards the east from
1,764,881 tons in 1871 to 3,833,708 tons in 1880 ;
towards the south from 1,805,332 tons in 1871 to
3,345,793 tons in 1880 ; towards the west from
951,367 tons in 1871 to 2,842,112 tons in 1880;
and the total grew from 4,913,102 tons in 1871 to
10,783,589 tons in 1880.
The rapidity of the growth of this commerce will
be more easily comprehended by considering the pro-
portion of tonnage for the years 1880, 1879, and
1878:
" " east 4 927 389 4 C84 09'i
" " " elsewhere 183 904 99 4'J6
Corn, bushels " south 12962076 5287394
" " east 4' 591*944 3*009*776
" " " elsewhere 17 302 13 836
Flour, barrels " south... 1350*442 1049*504
" " east 1 912'l71 1*927490
" " " elsewhere 30090 68041
Flour and grain1 " south 28,377271 15134163
«' " " " east ... 19555975 17952999
" " " " elsewhere 388737 589262
Hog products, pounds... " south 150,94^,883 158,639570
" " " ... " east 45388116 63669511
" " " ... " elsewhere 3,913,027 3,892,698
Cattle, number " east, by rail 1,774 2,041
" " " south, by rail.. 219350 219416
rail 5474 4,798
directions 2,281
Sheep number " south, by rail... 6,690 2,441
" « " east, by rail 72,384 76,286
" " " elsewhere, by
rail 12,421 9,374
" " " by river in all
directions 3 027
Hogs, number " south, by rail.. 4,323 5,401
» " " east, by rail 759,323 679,513
rail 6,642 1,815
" " " by river in all
directions.... 1,481
The percentage of the shipments of cotton towards
the south in 1880 was 1.13, and towards the east
97.65, and 1.22 in other directions; of iclicat, 54.82
per cent, went south, and 43.55 per cent, went east,
1.63 per cent, in other directions; of corn, 73.77
per cent, went south, 26.13 per cent, went east, 0.10
per cent, in other directions ; of flour, 41.01 per cent,
went south, 58.07 per cent, east, and 0.92 per cent,
in other directions; of grain, etc., 58.45 per cent,
went south, 40.47 east, and 1.08 in other directions;
of hog products, 75.38 per cent, went south, 22.67
per cent, east, and 1.95 per cent, in other directions;
of cattle, 0.77 per cent, went south, 95.84 per cent,
east, and 3.39 per cent, in other directions ; of sheep,
6.38 per cent, went south, 77.40 east, and 16.22 in
other directions ; of hogs, 0.56 per cent, went south,
98.52 per cent, east, and 0.92 in other directions.
The steady expansion of the commerce of St.
Louis is shown by the increase during 1880 over
1879 of the shipments of flour and grain from St.
Louis to the east and to the south, the former of
which increased 1,602,976 bushels, or 8.9 per cent.,
and the latter 13,243,108 bushels, or 87.05 per cent. ;
in 1879 the shipments to the east exceeded those to
1880. 1879. 1878.
DIREC-
TION. Par Par Par
Tons- Cent. T°n8' Cent. T°n8- Cent.
North 761,976 7.07 578,381 6.95 509,229 7.28
West 2,842,112 20:55 1824575 ''I 95 14734:54 21.06
South 3,345,793 31.03 2,644,61 S :;l.-n 2,122.t)24 30.35
East 3,833,708 35.55 3,267 ,33f> :','.! :;o 2,889,951 41.31
Total 10,783,589 100.00 8,314,909 100.00 6,995,241 100.00
It will be observed from these tables that the com-
merce of St. Louis towards the east was larger in
1880 than in any other direction, and a much larger
traffic passes over the great bridge than is transported
on the river. In direct trade with foreign countries
in 1880, the value of eastward shipments by rail
via Atlantic ports was seventy per cent, greater
than the value of the shipments southward via the
1 Including wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, and flour, at five
bushels to the barrel.
994
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the south by 2,818,836 bushels, but in 1880 the
shipments to the south exceeded those to the east by
8,821,296 bushels; in 1879 about 53 per cent, of the
shipments was to the east, but in 1880 nearly 59
per cent, of the total shipments was to the south ;
the total shipments for 1880 exceeded those for 1879
by 14,645,559 bushels. The receipts of flour at St.
Louis in 1880 exceeded those for 1879 by 100,000
barrels; those of wheat increased 4,000,000 bushels;
of corn, 9,000,000 bushels; of oats, 600,000 bushels;
and of barley, 730,000 bushels ; while the receipts of
rye decreased 250,000 bushels as compared with
1879.
There is a wide disparity of opinion in regard to
the limits of the territory actually tributary to St.
Louis, and consequently the extent of the products
controlled by that city. We wish to present both
views, that which is less favorable to the pretensions
of St. Louis and that which is more favorable. We
will state in advance that we incline to accept the
claim for the wider horizon and the broader destiny.
No city has a grander geographical site, and none a
more generous and nobler population. If these two,
working together in steadfast co-operation, — intelli-
gence reverently and diligently utilizing and applying
the gifts and largess of nature, the stored-up forces
and conservated energies of immemorial ages, — cannot
make a great city and a great centre of trade, then
nothing can. Anyhow, it is proper that a city should
have implicit confidence in its resources. As Col.
George E. Leighton, president of the Missouri His-
torical Society, said, in his very intelligent and thought-
ful address at the last annual meeting, Jan. 16, 1883,
" A living interest and belief in the real greatness of a
city will alone make it great. Such a feeling is con-
tagious, and if we but do our part, we can impress
ourselves and others with the belief that we 'have in
St. Louis a city worthy of our interest, and of our
labors to make it attractive in all those directions
which ennoble, dignify, and refine our lives, as well as
in those which minister to its material progress."
Mr. Joseph Niramo, Jr., chief of the Bureau of
Statistics of the Treasury Department, Washington,
in his very comprehensive and suggestive report on
the " Internal Commerce of the United States," sub-
mitted to Secretary of the Treasury Windom, July 1,
1881, attempts to define the " territorial limits of the
commerce of St. Louis." What he says is as fol-
lows :
" It is deemed proper in this connection to present a general
description of the range of the commercial activities of St. Louis,
such as was presented in a preceding report on the internal com-
merce of the United States, with such modifications as the
changed conditions of trade and of transportation have rendered
necessary.
" The limits of the trade of St. Louis cannot be precisely de-
fined, nor can the limits of the trade of any other great commer-
cial city, as each city is either directly or indirectly the compet-
itor of every other commercial city. St. Louis has direct trade
with San Francisco, with St. Paul, Minn., with Chicago, with
New Orleans, with the principal Atlantic seaports, and with
many of the principal ports of Europe. This is also true of
other great commercial cities, both at the West and on the sea-
board. But in the sense of being the principal market for the
sale of general merchandise, and for the purchase of surplus
agricultural products of the surrounding country, the terri-
torial extent of the commerce of St. Louis may be described as
folldws :
" The commerce of St. Louis west of the Mississippi River
and north of the State of Missouri is quite small, the city of
Chicago having secured the principal control of that trade by
means of the system of east and west roads centring in that
city.
"St. Louis competes sharply with Chicago for the trade of
Northern Missouri, Kansas, Southern Nebraska, Colorado, the
Territories tributary to the traffic of the Union and Central Pa-
cific Railroads, and for the transcontinental trade with the
States of the Pacific coast, and mainly controls so much of the
trade towards the Southwest as is embraced in the southern and
central portion of Missouri, the State of Arkansas, the larger
part of the State of Texas, and the northwestern section of Lou-
isiana. For the trade of Kansas, the northern part of Texas,
and the Indian Territory, St. Louis meets an active competition
in the commercial enterprises of Chicago.
"The advent of railroads as highways of commerce has led to
many changes, not only in the limits of the commerce of cities,
but also in their relation to each other. This fact is strikingly
illustrated with respect to the commerce of St. Louis and of New
Orleans. Twenty years ago almost all the commercial interests
of these two cities were mutual and reciprocal, but to-day, with
respect to the large and rapidly-growing southwestern com-
merce, St. Louis is a formidable rival of New Orleans. This
new condition of affairs has resulted mainly from the construc-
tion of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad and
connections, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. These
lines, by their extension into Arkansas, Western and Northern
Louisiana, and Texas, have not only invaded a section formerly
embraced within the trade limits of New Orleans, but they have
been the instrumentalities through which a very large commer-
cial development has taken place within this highly productive
section. The railroads referred to have invited a large immigra-
tion into these States, and trade and industry have thus been
greatly promoted. Not only are the surplus products of a large
part of the State of Arkansas, as well as of parts of Louisiana
and Texas, shipped to St. Louis and other northern cities for a
market, but, in return, general merchandise is shipped to those
States.
" By the completion of the railroad line from New Orleans to
Houston, the former city has become a direct competitor with
St. Louis for a large part of the traffic of the railroads of Texas.
The competition of New Orleans for the trade of Texas will un-
doubtedly become sharper upon the completion of the railway
line designed to connect that city with Shreveport, La., at
which point connection will be made with the Texas Pacific
Railroad and its connecting lines.
" For the trade of the States east of the Mississippi River
and south of the Ohio River, St. Louis meets the active compe-
tition of the trade of New Orleans, Louisville, Cincinnati, and
Chicago, and of the principal cities on the Atlantic seaboard.
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
995
The trade of St. Louis with those States has exhibited no ma-
terial increase for several years.
" The trade limits of St. Louis east of the Mississippi River
and north of the Ohio River, not including the through traffic
with the States of the Atlantic seaboard and with foreign coun-
tries, embrace a considerable portion of the State of Illinois
and extend into Indiana and Ohio. This is a commerce almost
entirely by rail, only a very small percentage of it being carried
on by means of boats plying on the Mississippi and Illinois
Rivers. All this trade, with the exception of that in the im-
mediate vicinity of St. Louis, is highly competitive as between
Chicago, Toledo, and St. Louis. This applies both to the pur-
chase of agricultural products and to the sale of supplies and
general merchandise. The state of the markets at these rival
cities determines the course of trade of this section at all times.
" The commerce of St. Louis with the States and Territories
already referred to has as its distinguishing characteristics the
purchase of the surplus products of those States and Territories
and the sale of merchandise for consumption within such terri-
torial limits. But the commerce of St. Louis with the Atlantic
seaboard States and with foreign countries presents itself under
an entirely different aspect."
Mr. Nimmo at this point speaks of the railroads
which centre at St. Louis and the sharp competition
of the east-bound trunk lines, a matter which it is
not necessary to discuss now or here. There are two
reasons for this : in the first place, the rates of com-
petition are so fluctuating and uncertain that there is
no standard, as there is also neither good policy, es-
tablished policy, honor nor honesty in the competition
for freight from the west to the Atlantic seaboard
cities. These things will finally adjust themselves,
and in the final adjustment it will be " devil take the
hindmost." But in the mean time, so long as " pool-
ing" corrects distance, no scale of rates can be per-
manently laid down. We have nothing but expedients,
and very temporary ones at that, and St. Louis can
afford to wait until time, which adjusts everything
else, has adjusted this also. In the second place, St.
Louis possesses a regulator of freight rates to eastern
seaports which, she is fain to believe, will finally re-
construct everything, and especially readjust the " dif-
ferential rates" entirely in her favor. This regulator
is the Mississippi River, which, no matter what rail-
road managers may say, intends to have a potential
voice in the final adjustment of freight rates from
western trade centres to European markets, and will
not be ignored, belittled, or frightened by any of their
" statements."
The area of country really and actually tributary
to St. Louis, the more sanguine friends of its com-
merce in the future claim, is as follows :
STATES AND PARTS OF STATES TRIBUTAEY TO ST. LOUIS, THEIE POPULATION, RAILROADS, AND PRODUCTS, 1879-80.
STATES.
Population.
Miles of
Railroad.
Wheat.
Corn.
Oats.
Rye.
Barley.
Number of
Live-Stock.
Missouri
2,168,804
802,564
995,966
152,433
1,539,384
812,310
771,287
824,354
4434
620
1957
3083
5645
1539
34001
1065
24,966,627
1,269,730
17,324,141
13,847,007
25,555,251
15,577,102
1,283,880
5,678,056
202,485,723
24,156,417
105,729,325
65,150,435
162,896,240
137,512,123
14,532,586
36,426,131
20,670,958
2,219,822
8,180,385
6,555,875
36,594,600
25,305,295
2,446,679
2,290,369
535,426
22,387
413,181
424,348
1,591,897
759,302
12,699
334,025
123,631
1,952
300,273
1,744,686
614,761
2,011,294
36,393
243,163
7,611,671
Arkansas ... ..
Kansas
2,814,383
1,836,286
Nebraska
Iowa (i)
2,408,071
8,665,221
Texas (£)
771,231
194,649
118,430
470,051
1,131,592
792
727
715
681
1448
3,665,676
1,425,014
706,641
2,517
218,890
31,382,214
455,968
633,786
4,953,094
21,340,800
2,361,095
640,900
156,527
114,920
1,959,620
78,209
19,465
240
506
5,134
15,009
107,116
25,026
Colorado
1,985,119
174
1 AU the Texas railroads are tributary to St. Louis, so also are the Texas cattle and other live-stock.
Cotton and other products are given in other tables.
The above table is supposed to represent the States
which send or are to send their products to St. Louis.
The States and Territories which St. Louis supplies
more or less with goods, either of her own manufac-
ture or through the jobbing trade, are exemplified in
a statement of Mr. E. C. Simmons, president of the
Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis :
" We purchase goods at many points throughout the North-
ern as well as Eastern States, from the Mississippi River east to
Providence and Boston. There are also many manufacturers
of goods in our line here in St. Louis from whom we draw sup-
plies. We have goods manufactured at several of the principal
penitentiaries of the country. We also still import largely of
certain lines of goods chiefly from England and Germany, and
some from France and Switzerland. All of our goods, both do-
mestic and foreign, are shipped to us direct on through bills of
lading.
" The range of our sales is very wide indeed. We sell goods
as far east as Indiana, north as far as Wisconsin and Minne-
sota, Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming, west as far as Colorado,
Utah, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California,
and south to the Gulf of Mexico. We also have trade in Ala-
bama and Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, with some scatter-
ing trade in North Carolina and Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.
"This widely extended business is chiefly done through com-
mercial travelers or agents employed by our house. The whole
territory is divided up into districts, each district being in the
particular charge of one of our commercial travelers, who is held
responsible for the maintenance and extension of trade within
his district. He is also expected to keep the house informed in
996
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
regard to the competition which he meets from every point,
from other business houses in this city and in other cities, also
as to crops and facts of interest touching the influence of com-
peting rail rates. The limits of our trade depend very largely
upon the rates for transportation which we have to meet from
competing business houses in other cities.
" At present we have thirty-one commercial agents employed.
" Nineteen-twentieths of our trade is by rail. The great ad-
vantage afforded by rail transportation is the readiness and
quickness with which goods can be distributed. All we have to
do is to ship goods by rail on a through bill of lading to a re-
mote point. They may pass over three or four different rail-
roads, but the railroad companies attend to transshipment from
the line of one company to that of another.
" Insurance is a thing that bears heavily against water ship-
ments. Merchants will buy goods from points where they will
reach them quickest. Take, for instance, Corsicana, Texas.
The all-rail rate from St. Louis is $1.25 to $1.50 per one hun-
dred pounds, and from New York by Morgan line it is but fifty
to seventy-five cents per one hundred pounds; still, on account
of the quicker transportation, the merchants buy most of their
goods in St. Louis, and ship by rail. In our trade east of this
point we find a very sharp competition from Chicago, but we do
not meet much competion from Chicago in Missouri south of
this point, or in the Indian Territory, Arkansas, or Texas. All
that we regard as especially our territory.
" Throughout the States south of the Ohio and east of the
Mississippi Eiver, viz. : Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala-
bama, Georgia, and Louisiana, and some little in North Caro-
lina, we meet the competition of Louisville and Cincinnati
merchants, and also a very vigorous competition from New
York. Our best trade may be said to be in Iowa, Illinois, Mis-
souri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas."
The foregoing statement in regard to the range of
the business of a single house, both in its territorial
extent and in the degree to which its management
involves the exercise of executive and administrative
ability, affords a striking illustration of the manner in
which the wholesale or jobbing trade is carried on at
the present time. In the range of its activities and
in the methods employed, the commerce of the present
day is widely at variance with all ideas of trade which
prevailed even thirty years ago. At all the points
where purchases are made by the business house
above referred to, purchases are also made by mer-
chants doing business in a hundred rival towns and
cities. Throughout almost the entire area in which
the sales of this business house are made, competition
is also met from business houses in Chicago, Louis-
ville, Cincinnati, New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and many other towns of lesser magnitude.
St. Louis competes with Louisville and other cities
in the manufacture of tobacco, selling all the Missouri
product. In the sale of dry-goods, clothing, and
groceries, she competes, on their own territory, with
Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile, Nashville, Louisville,
Cincinnati, and Chicago ; New York, Philadelphia,
Boston, and Baltimore sometimes invading her terri-
tory. In the distribution of corn whiskey, as well as
in its manufacture, she competes with Cincinnati and
Louisville, Indianapolis and Peoria. In the manufac-
ture and distribution of malt liquors, St. Louis controls
the whele Southern and Western trade, in conjunc-
tion with Cincinnati and Milwaukee. The drug trade
of the lower Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas,
etc., is controlled by St. Louis. In wood and willow-
ware, St. Louis has all the South and West, even
Tennessee. One house in this city is known to be
the largest distributing house in the United States.
In queensware, St. Louis supplies the Southwest. In
stoves its only rivals are Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
It is thus apparent that St. Louis has a productive
commerce as well as a distributive one. This is
greatly in her favor, as the productive trade is more
profitable as well as more durable and certain. Prop-
erly defined, distributive commerce includes all trade
which is accompanied by a movement to or from the
city, considered of commodities that are neither altered
nor produced within its limits. With relation to this
form of commerce a city is a point of exchange. Pro-
ductive commerce includes all trade which exists or
arises between a city and its markets as a result of
manufacturing or altering commodities within ite
boundaries. With relation to this form of commerce
a city becomes a manufacturing centre.
Now, since the influences which are favorable to
the distributive trade of a city form only one set of
advantages necessary to make that city a desirable
manufacturing centre, and since it is possible that a
city may be very desirable as a point of production
without having any of the elements to make it a suc-
cessful point of exchange, it follows that a city may
have at least two well-defined areas of trade, one for
its productive and the other for its distributive com-
merce. And it will, therefore, be desirable to learn
the position occupied by each of these elements in
order to arrive at the commercial situation and pros-
pects of the city under consideration.
In a given area the relations of commerce to
avenues of transportation are so intimate and so recip-
rocal, either capable of acting towards the other as
cause or effect, that an understanding of the one not
only involves a knowledge of the other, but an intel-
ligent consideration of either is best promoted by
making it an exponent of the other, and dividing the
former into such areas or epochs as naturally pertain
to its correlative.
The history of railroad progress in the territory south
of the Ohio River and south of the State of Missouri
shows that prior to the latter part of the year 1860
there were no through rail trunk lines running north
and south in any part of said territory.
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
997
The trunk lines of transportation in this section
were water highways, and while the railroad interests
of the whole country were rapidly developing during
the twenty years previous to that date, yet they had
not become the leading commercial highways. Hence
in the following remarks on commercial influences we
designate the period prior to 1860 as the era of water
transportation, or the era of western development.
For a like reason, since the year 1860, as the ten-
dency of railroads in this southern territory has been
so largely towards the formation of through trunk
lines, both by the construction of missing links and
by the consolidation of local roads, and as the move-
ments of commerce since that date have taken place
so essentially over railroad highways that water ave-
nues have assumed a secondary position and influence,
the period covered by the last twenty years may be
commercially termed an era of railway transportation.
During the era of western development the com-
merce of the entire United States followed essentially
an east and west movement, and this movement still,
as applied to the total commerce of our country, is
probably the largest one.
During the era of railroad transportation, most of
the changes in the commercial highways of the inte-
rior have tended to foster a north and south move-
ment of commerce, and the development of that move-
ment has been so rapid that it promises to become a
formidable rival to the ancient monopoly.
It is a universal accompaniment of distributive com-
merce that as railroads extend facilities for its move-
ment, they are liable at the same time to give like
facilities to smaller as well as larger centres. Hence
the very instrument which tends to develop a city's
distributing powers places the means at the disposal
of its tributaries to make of themselves active com-
petitors. In other words, an extension of railway
facilities in a country tends to increase the number
and decrease or rather equalize the size of distributive
centres. This tendency is mostly a subordinate one.
but it is not on that account to be lost sight of.
Furthermore, in a distributive commerce ave-
nues of transportation are always the elements of
primary importance in marking out its course and de-
fining its limits, while with productive commerce trans-
portation avenues may be secondary considerations.
A town may be a very active distributing centre,
and all of the elements of its prosperity appear to be
permanent, but every change in its railway outlets
and avenues must vitally affect its welfare for better
or worse, according to the nature of the change.
Examples of towns almost annihilated by changes
in transportation facilities are frequently to be found
in the South, because in the South commerce has been
almost wholly distributive. The town of Jefferson,
Texas, furnishes a notable example. From 1865 to
1870, when she formed the terminus of navigation on
Red River, and supplied with merchandise a section
through Texas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory,
extending northwest, west, and southwest for two or
three hundred miles, she had ten thousand people,
and every prospect seemed to promise her lasting
prosperity. The Texas and Pacific Railroad with its
through connections was formed, passing through the
town itself, while already to the west the Houston
and Texas Central, with its supplementary connection,
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, had cut off
its far western trade, so that to-day Jefferson is a way
station, with deserted wharves, and her population of
barely two thousand people are selling whole blocks
(whose stores used to rent for one hundred and fifty
and two hundred dollars per month) for the bare
bricks which their walls contain.
It is true, therefore, that centres of distributive
commerce are built upon foundations of sand, whilst
a city grown great through a productive commerce
will always possess a material element of prosperity ;
also that the trade limits of a distributing centre
more nearly correspond with the area whose crops it
markets than do such limits of a productive commerce,
the latter being almost wholly independent of that area
as defining its extent and location.
Again, the distributive commerce of the interior
consists most largely of an east and west movement, —
i.e., exchanges between points east of the western
boundary of Pennsylvania and north of Mason and
Dixon's line, and points west of the western boundary
of Pennsylvania and south of the Ohio River and
State of Missouri.
The era of railway transportation has been also one
essentially of the building up in the West of manu-
facturing industries, giving to small towns a commer-
cial significance which makes them important compet-
itors for trade in the South.
A single accompaniment of productive commerce
may here be mentioned, which will show how largely
the fostering of such commerce adds to the wealth of
a city. The figures given are underestimates rather
than overestimates, and they embody the principle :
A ton of cast iron is worth, say $35
If made into wrought iron it may have a value of.... **80
If the wrought iron be converted into steel it is worth 1 20 to 200
If the steel be manufactured into agricultural tools
it is capable of bringing, say 400
If, instead, it be converted into knife-blades, they
will sell for 30,000
Or, finally, if it be made up into the balance-springs
of watches its value may become over 100,000
998
HISTORY OP SAINT LOUIS.
The factor of profit which is thus under proper
circumstances capable of converting thirty-five dollars'
worth of cast iron into one hundred thousand dollars'
worth of watch-springs is LABOR ; and it is evident
that, if these operations were carried on in a single
town, the added wealth which would result to that
town from the entering of a single ton of metal into
its productive commerce would be many thousand per
cent, of the original value of the material. The mere
handling of this ton of metal, or the result of its
entering into the distributive commerce of the city
interested, could hardly under any circumstances
amount to twenty-five per cent, of its original value.
And while the above may be, and undoubtedly is,
an extreme case, it is nevertheless a possible and an
actual case in some localities ; and the principle em-
bodied in this single instance is true of by far the
largest proportion of manufactured articles, viz. : that
the labor entering into their production bears a larger
ratio to their value than the actual cost of material.
This is the sort of trade which has made Boston
and Philadelphia so rich, and contributes annually
such vast sums to the grand resources of Great Brit-
ain. It is the sort of trade which St. Louis expects
to control when her resources are more fully in play.
In the mean time, the actual movements of pro-
duce and merchandise at St. Louis, as distinguished
from the possible and prospective, have been as fol-
lows, taking the census year for convenience of com-
parison :
STATEMENT stowing Amount of Freight, in Tons, received
GRAIN SHIPMENTS from St. Louis towards the east by rail, and towards the
south by river and by rail, each year, from 1871 to 1880, inclusive.
TEAK.
East by Rail.
South.
By River. By Rail.
1871
Bushels.
2,154,065
3,456,409
2,065,660
2,318,350
2,658,478
12,434,296
6,570,529
7,561,475
8,227,465
8,790,059
Bushels. Bushels.
4,565,973 1,322,457
6,618,757 2,194,019
5,920,687 1,874,386
5,344,534 1,683,478
3,260,035 ' 1,871,022
4,212,435 | 995,540
5,691,493 1,373,982
7,230,422 1,054,221
8,596,952 1,360,036
18,978,347 2,646,714
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
STATEMENT showing the increase in the commerce, population, and value of
property of St. Louis from 1865 to 1880.
1865.
1880.
Increase.
Per Cent,
of
Increase.
Arrivals of boats... No.
Arrivals of barges.. "
Receipts of wheat,
and flour reduced
2,767
1,141
17,657,252
13,427,052
743,281
1 19,838
66,822
34,781,570
6,391,030
94,307
52,133
99,663
3 204,327
$87,625,534
2,360
1,471
46,037,578
33,676,424
2,142,949
472,436
32,113
92,983,380
8,415,176
420,654
182,648
1,762,724
400,000
$163,813,920
2407
330
28,380,326
20,249,372
1,399,668
452,598
234,709
58,201,810
2,024,146
326,347
130,515
1,663,061
195,673
$76,188,386
28.92
160.73
150.81
188.31
2281.47
Shipments of wheat,
and flour reduced
Manufactures of
Receipts of cotton, bales
Receipts of pork...bbis.
Receipts of hams
167.34
31.67
34605
250.35
1668.68
95.76
86.95
Receipts of lard.... "
Receipts of cattle... No.
1 Receipts of sheep... "
Receipts of hogs. ... "
Value of real and per-
sonal property
1 1867. 8 Decrease. 3 1866.
at St. Louis by each Bailroad and River for Ten Years.
BOUTE.
1882.
1881.
1880.
1879.
1878.
1877.
1876.
1875.
1874.
1873.
Missouri Pacific R.R. (Main Line)
962,517
339,243
319,905
92,088
730,705
154,243
634,987
493,310
212,267
395,122
288,271
32,285
346,857
739,081
717,935
289,386
19,889
280,710
51,821
135,540
275,175
168,410
34,900
164,625
23,430
907,467
335,847
447,449
154,248
768,652
114,211
488,615
330,907
251,915
406,217
298,276
45,120
370,610
640,764
530,745
253,784
40,062
285,516
80,170
190,815
273,110
160,555
39,385
165,825
22,720
850,434
404,172
530,527
179,772
536,488
95,176
477,608
304,369
200,996
389,779
264,679
425,840
245,965
366,797
143,313
536,318
108,078
446,764
276,436
88,196
359,534
207,985
413,302
191,834
395,049
354,513
178,280
318,768
416,415
173,950
333,757
229,447
196,968
238,866
328,201
196,891
223,294
344,375
149,007
252,608
St. Louis & San Francisco Ry
Wabaah, St. Louis & Pacific R.R. (West Brch.)
Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R.R. (Mo. Div.)...
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R.R
Missouri Pacific R.R. (Texas Div.)
353,172
78,652
383,739
223,248
63,885
262,952
191,020
340,740
109,864
380,204
257,536
89,435
243,496
136,977
325,097
110,773
37C,,4S8
230,707
107,984
268,073
167,525
451,225
53,885
406,653
221,634
103,808
280,557
184,834
292,842
65,734
362,470
216,898
82,470
319,217
195,691
392,634
73,291
445,765
177,611
17,927
337,074
203,765
Cairo Short Line R R
Louisville & Nashville R.R
St. Louis & Cairo R R
Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R.K. (Main Line)
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R.R. (east)
264,541
609,594
358,928
251,383
31,328
275,715
71,035
226,095
223,925
155,605
59,025
214,195
15,015
171,216
493,787
333,433
235,080
31.178
172,103
21,055
221,285
17U.400
10!»,620
33,800
130,785
14,080
128,568
402,252
264,831
224,240
65,727
142,836
135,487
392,185
169,930
260,530
31,345
65,098
128,208
372,314
104,319
215,523
42,533
57,554
134.634
319,658
108,940
213,443
27 .2 25
60,993
134,498
276,138
118,481
215,252
29,865
107,151
139,484
294,445
142,232
202,929
25,727
46,304
St. Louis, Vandalia, Terre Haute & Ind. R.R.
Wabash, St. Louis <fe Pacific R.R. (East'n Div.)
•Illinois & St. Louis R.R
Wabash. St. Louis & Pacific R.R. (Iowa Brch.)
Chicago, Bur. & Quincy R.R. (N. & N. W. Div.)
St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern R.R
174,065
174,180
124,785
56,040
171,900
13,730
136,715
149,825
104,200
49,645
192,055
12,045
224,860
147,185
129,940
50,345
124,125
12,200
100
198,100
128,020
153,995
30,100
146,805
6,345
100
231,060
169,780
192,770
44,830
87,985
6,000
340
281,176
226,535
125,715
38,630
123,075
4,850
1,075
Illinois River
Ohio River
7,702,702
7,602,985
6,990,384
5,352,048
4,500,007 4,108,873 4,119,975 3,896,295
3,897,858
4,046,233
Total by rail
6,900,622 6,750,575 6,096,524 4,663,078
802,080 852,410 893,860 688,970
3,785,307 3,464,388 3,431,220 3,232,770
714,700 644,485 688,755 663,525
3,165,093 3,245,178
732,765 801,055
Total by river
In addition to the receipts of 1880 by upper Mississippi River by boats, there was received 198,315 tons of lumber, logs, and shingles by rafts.
" " 1881 " " " " " " 356,020 " " " "
« « 1882 " " " " " " 271,490 " •' " "
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
999
Showiiig the Amount of Freight, in Tons, shipped from St. Louis by each BaUroml and Rioer for ten years.
L
v_
ROUTE.
1882.
1881.
1880.
1879.
1878.
1877.
1876.
1875.
1874.
1873.
678,706
180,927
246,049
90,990
549,991
24^,998
139,339
81,164
23,356
195,717
293,830
32,808
296,209
265,981
239,352
9,001
16,713
139,925
20,104
71,325
610,205
4,690
11,980
66,010
1,150
4,545
709,814
185,147
254,902
72,393
600,929
79,866
135,393
64,199
22,862
204,006
252,465
25,098
246,169
281,299
192,109
9,930
13,520
85,455
27,356
54,295
730,185
5,175
13,720
77,600
1,100
1,950
407,030 272,250
122,787 78,755
209,604 197,219
62,346 45,596
390,069 288,768
66,555 61,226
111,609 91,428
87,037 41,586
16,391 13,298
184,975 141,182
268,309 318,754
196,955
44,495
153,294
202.966
45,898
137,394
203,169
51,150
134,999
151,980
34,881
116,674
171,987
30,133
85,368
162,435
39,962
90,488
Wabasli, St. Louis <fc Pac. R.R. (West Brch.)...
Chicago, Alton & St. Louts R.R. (Mo. Div.)....
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R.R. ...
Missouri Pacific Railroad (Texas Division)
222,641
45,039
68,027
49,416
12,405
136,677
256,444
215,731
47,523
66,992
29,350
11,806
144,065
174,454
193,833
45,131
38,909
30,249
4,970
207,905
149,285
211,726
40,635
76,092
25,944
13,961
108,998
135,647
155,181
39,337
37,753
44,845
13,968
145,914
97,885
122,605
54,956
39,917
53,000
5,520
158,523
81,158
Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R. R. (Main Line).
_CJ»icago, Burlington & Quiwcy R. R. (east)....
218,859
247,656
246,337
13,573
9,923
69,678
22.942
55,260
813,080
9,935
16,415
135,360
1,315
6,160
152,955
272,579
233,070
11,280
18,665
41,197
5,908
66,990
499,040
9,140
15,040
86,935
157,644
190,685
279,753
7,803
13,452
45,829
183,817
142,713
199,242
4,637
15,672
30,590
217,786
140,178
201,580
5,537
13,846
•21,4-.'3
138,307
137,884
74,837
7,359
13,772
12,754
175,389
139,831
62,618
10,000
8,921
11,546
«52,669
100,544
68,204
6,595
9,289
9,551
St. Louis, Vandalia, Tern> Haute & In«l. R.R.
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Ry. (East'n Div.)
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific R R. (Iowa Brch.)
Chicago, Bur. & Quincy R.R. (N. & N. \V. Div.)
•-Sf. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad..
67,320
434,490
18,300
22,465
72,100
68,565
426,725
16,420
23,185
62,100
10
665
93,360
379,970
20,560
19,360
83,460
3,515
96,225
367,235
18,470
25,100
129,025
1,560
1,480
95,800
469,065
13,640
20,390
100,660
2,225
5,445
61,966
525,445
11,695
27,810
119,660
2,040
34,640
Ohio River
Red, Ouachita, Arkansas, and White Rivers..
4,519,065
4,346,937
3,793,205
2,962,861
2,495,234
2,250,520
2,260,175
1,940,545
1,938,001
1,938,672
Total by rail
3,749,160
769,905
3,462,912 12,755,680
884,025 [1,037,525
1
2,285,716
677,145
1,880,559
614,675
1,652,850
597,670
1,659,950
600,225
1,301,450 1,230,676 1,155.416
639,095 707,325 j 783,256
. ' i
Total by river
The total tonnage of freights received at and
shipped from St. Louis each year from 1871 to
1880, inclusive, is indicated in the following table:
Calendar Tons Received
Year. and Shipped.
1871 4,913,102
1872 5,712,229
1873 5,984,905
1874 5,835,859
1875 5,836,840
Calendar
Tear.
Tons Received
and Shipped.
1876 6,380,150
1877 6,359,393
1878 6,995,241
1879 8,314,909
1880 10,783,589
But St. Louis is not content with these results, gi-
gantic as they are, and rapid as has been the growth
and development of the trade of which they are the
indices. Dr. Samuel Johnson, when he was witness-
ing the sale of the plant and effects of Thrale's
brewery, was asked what he could find in such a
scene to interest him. " I see all around me, sir," he
answered, ;< the potentiality of great riches." That
is what St. Louis beholds in her exceptionally great
resources and favorable site, and her people will never
rest while these things, possessions and promises, re-
main undeveloped and unutilized.
All the cotton received at St. Louis, no matter
what its destination, and no matter how consigned,
Ireaks bulk there, is handled, compressed, and re-
shipped. Thus St. Louis makes some profit out of
every bale received. Before Chicago, by means of her
railroad, lake, and canal facilities, secured the lion's
share of the east-bound carrying trade in breadstuffs
and provisions, and so had her fortune made, every
pound of Western produce and Western merchandise,
destined no matter where, up the river or down, broke
bulk at St. Louis, and that city made a profit in it.
This trade, this control of trade, St. Louis seeks once
more to restore by renewing the supremacy of what
was its source and medium, the Mississippi River.
This is not a dream. It is not one of Governor
Allen's " barren idealities." On the contrary, it is a
legitimate trade expectation, which may be realized at
almost any moment. St. Louis had this control of
trade once through superior facilities and unrivaled
cheapness of transportation. The same facilities exist
now in a much greater degree, and the cheapness also.
The opportunity to make full use of them has not
quite arrived, on account of various causes and ob-
structions.
But in the mean time certain facts stand out in
alto relievo, and none of the commercial rivals and
competitors of St. Louis can deny them.
1st. Chicago and New York dread the completion
of the Welland Canal, because by that route grain
from the former city can be delivered in Liverpool
via the Strait of Belle Isle at rates with which New
York cannot compete. In other words, Chicago, to
maintain her grain trade, must transfer it from New
York to Montreal.
2d. But that route is closed five months in every
year by ice.
3d. St. Louis is not afraid of the competition of
Montreal and the Welland Canal, because she can de-
liver grain in Liverpool cheaper by the Mississippi
River route than it can possibly be delivered by any
other route. This has been proved, and will be
1000
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
demonstrated again still more conclusively. At
present all that need be shown in this connection is
results, accomplished facts.
SHIPMENTS OF BULK GRAIN BY RIVER FROM ST. LOUIS TO
NEW ORLEANS FOR ELEVEN YEARS, FOR EXPORT.
YEAR.
Wheat.
Corn.
Rye.
Oats.
Totals.
1880
Bushel*.
5 913 272
Buthelt.
9 804 392
r,n-<ii,-i.*.
45 000
Butheh.
ButJtel*.
15 769 664
1879
2,390,897
3,585 589
157424
30928
6 164 838
1878
1 S7«,(i3!»
2,857,056
609041
108 867
5 451 603
1877
351,453
3 578 057
171 843
4*101 353
1876
37,142
1 737 237
l'774*379
1875
13.r>,9fil
172,617
308 578
1874
365252
1 047 794
10000
1 403 o46
1873
1 373 969
1 373 96'J
1872
1,711,039
1 711 039
1871
1870
66000
309,077
3,000
312,077
66000
Mr. Joseph Nimmo, Jr., in his notable report of
1881 on the internal commerce of the country, says
that
"The regulating influence of the interior water lines is
limited and conditioned by the fact that it is operative with
respect to the internal commerce of the country mainly through
the great interior markets, and notably those of Milwaukee,
Chicago, St. Louis, Peoria, Toledo, Detroit, Louisville, and
Cincinnati. This results from the fact that the movements of
commerce are directed by the trade forces rather than by the
transportation forces of the country. In the transportation of
the surplus products of the Western and Northwestern States
to the seaboard and to foreign countries, the regulating influ-
ence of the Mississippi River is rendered effective mainly
through the markets of St. Louis, and the regulating influence
of the northern water line is rendered effective mainly through
the markets of Milwaukee and Chicago, but also to a consider-
able extent through the markets of Duluth, Detroit, and
Toledo.
" The competition of commercial forces exerts an important
influence in determining the relative magnitude of the various
trade currents of the country. The constituent elements of the
trade forces of cities are, first, a large community of intelligent
and enterprising merchants having an extensive knowledge of
commercial affairs; and, second, the requisite capital in the
hands of these men available in the pursuits of trade. These
forces at Chicago, at Milwaukee, at St. Louis, and at other com-
mercial cities of the interior arrest the surplus products of the
West in their eastward or southward movement, such products
usually reaching those cities by rail. At these points the option
is first presented of transportation by water or by rail. A thou-
sand trains a day may pass through towns situated on the lakes
or on the rivers where these agencies and facilities for carrying
on a large commerce do not exist, and yet the water lines will
exercise no perceptible influence over the rates charged on the
railroads. This is strikingly illustrated in the case of the rail-
roads which cross the Mississippi River over bridges at thirteen
different points between St. Paul and St. Louis. The river
rates exert no marked influence over the rail rates from the fact
that at very few of those points is there the controlling influ-
ence of a market for Western products with its constituent
elements, viz., a body of men educated in the mercantile pro-
fession and controlling the requisite amount of capital actually
employed in trade or invested in warehouses and other instru-
mentalities for the successful prosecution of trade. The rail-
roads are not at those points, in a commercial sense, tributary
to the river, but, on the other hand, to the extent to which the
river towns are local markets for the purchase of surplus pro-
ducts of the trans-Mississippi States, the river becomes tribu-
tary to the railroads.
" It is only at Chicago, Milwaukee, and a few other lake
ports, and at St. Louis that direct competition between rail and
water transportation presents itself to any considerable extent,
in so far as relates to the regulating influence exerted by the
two great water lines over the rates which may be charged on
railroads. The extent to which the regulating influence of the
two great interior water lines is rendered operative through the
principal primary grain markets of the country is illustrated
by the fact that of the total eastern and southern movement of
grain, amounting during the year 1880 to 400,000,000 bushels,
about 320,000,000 bushels, or 80 per cent., was marketed at the
seven primary markets of the West, viz., Milwaukee, Chicago,
Duluth, St. Louis, Peoria, Toledo, and Detroit ; and that only
about 80,000,000 bushels were shipped direct from the Western
and Northwestern States to the Atlantic seaboard.
" Of the total grain receipts at St. Louis during the year
1880, amounting to 47,697,066 bushels, 40,121,783 bushels, or
84 per cent., was received by railroads, and only 7,575,283
bushels, or 16 per cent., by river; and of the total grain re-
ceipts at Chicago during the year 1880, amounting to 165,-
855,370 bushels, it appears that 159,129,984 bushels, or 96 per
cent., was received by railroads, and that 6,725,386 bushels, or
only 4 per cent., was received by lake and the Illinois Canal.
"About 90 per cent, of the grain, 85 per cent, of the pro-
visions, and 8 per cent, of the cattle which reached Chicago
during the year 1880 were actually marketed at that point;
and of the shipment of those commodities from Chicago, 61 per
cent, of the flour and grain and only 10 per cent, of the pro-
visions were shipped by lake. No live-stock was shipped by
lake.
"About 95 per cent, of the grain, 97i per cent, of the pro-
visions, and all of the live-stock which reached St. Louis during
the year 1880 were actually marketed at that point; and of the
shipments of those commodities from that city, 49 per cent, of
the flour and grain, 38 per cent, of the provisions, and 1.28 per
cent, of the cattle were shipped by river.
"The foregoing facts indicate that almost the entire work of
gathering up the surplus products of the Western and North-
western States is done by railroads, and that the option of
transportation by water or by rail is almost entirely confined to
shipments from Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louis.
"The following table serves to illustrate the comparative
magnitude of the grain traffic of St. Louis which is diverted to
the Mississippi River from the railroads extending east from
that city :
Bushels.
Total grain crop of the United States during the
year 1879 2,704,484,762
Total grain product of the States of Illinois, Wis-
consin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska. Missouri,
Kansas, and Arkansas, and the Territory of
Dakota during the year 1879 1,493,246,213
Shipments of grain and flour during the year 1880 at
Bushels.
Duluth 6,511,100
Milwaukee 29,691,524
Chicago 154.377,115
Peoria 20,544,508
Detroit 10,366,491
Toledo 53,372,739
.St. Louis 46,675,581
Total 321,539,058
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1001
St. Louis shipments of grain and flour : Bushels. "The merchants of St. Louis, and her citizens generally,
Eastward 18,599,889 never ]ost faith in the po88ibility of developing a large com-
Bv river 20 901,515 merce by river via New Orleans, especially in the exportation
By rail 5,800,535 to foreign countries of the surplus products of the. Western and
In other directions. 373,642 Northwestern States. It has always been believed that the
river route not only afforded a cheaper avenue of transportation
Total St. Louis shipments 46,675,581
ic wcc n.i for 8ucn traffic than the east and west trunk railroad lines, but
Gram and flour exported from New Orleans 15,750,041
that the increase of traffic upon the river would so much reduce
SHIPMENTS IN TONS FROM ST. LOUIS DURING 1880. the cost of transportation as greatly to increase the regulating
Tons. Total. influence exerted by the river rates over rail rates. Results al-
North : ready attained seem to prove the correctness of this view."
By river 55,260) 157803
By /ail 102,543 j In regard to the transportation facts upon which
fiV river 145295) some of these great expectations have been founded,
By rail..'.'".'"!'.!'.!!;;;!;;;.'.".'.'.'."."".'"!'.'.'. M7VWJ 1>325>00' We have the following:
West: "ST. Louis AND
By nver .1W15) 818,182 NEW ORLEANS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY.
By rail 801,76/1 llo T
' "ST. Louis, Feb. 2, 1881.
By river 820 555 ) "DEAR SIR, — As requested in your note of 24th instant, I
By rail 671,661 } l>WJ,~li make reply to the two inquiries propounded by Mr. Nimmo, of
the Bureau of Statistics (in letter of January 20th), as follows:
Total shipments 3,793,20! „ lgt j certainly do not believe that a ^g. of m to 15
Total shipments by rail 2,755,680 cents per 100 pounds between Mississippi River points and the
Total shipments by river MUM!! ports of the Atlantic seaboard could be maintained by any of
Total shipments toward the South 1,492,216 r
Shipment by river toward the South 820,555 the railway lines without losing money.
Tonnage of New Orleans exports, the product of the "2d. I say without hesitation, that with a rate of five cents per
Western and Northwestern States, about 317,000 bushel on grain from St. Louis to New Orleans via river,
Mr Nimmo adds that there being at the same time an average difference of four cents in
ocean freights against New Orleans as compared with the North
" From the time of the first settlement of St. Louis until ;
. .. ,. , , , ..i Atlantic ports, there would be a most decided diversion of gram
about the year 1855, that city was entirely dependent upon the
, i in the direction of New Orleans.
Mississippi River and its navigable tributaries for the means of
, Let me add, however, that in the uncertain condition of the
transportation. During that period it had no competitor for the
,. e LI. »»• • • • T>- ' river (as regards depth of water) during the period of naviga-
trade of the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River.
, T... . , ,„. . , tion,thelownessof the rate of five cents per bushel cannot always
A large part of the States of Illinois and Wisconsin was also !
.... A, , A. . . . ,,. j be depended on, but with the depth of water which the contem-
embraced within the area of the commercial supremacy of St.
T plated improvements between Cairo and St. Louis will un-
Louis. But during the last twenty-five years a great change
. . doubtedly give, the time is not far distant when the rate named,
has taken place in the conditions governing the commercial
five cents per bushel, may be continuously counted on.
situation and relations of that city, as the result of the exten-
., ,A, „ "Very truly yours, H. LOUREY, President.
sion westward of the railroad system of the country. By means
* "GEORGE H. MORGAN, ESQ.,
of this extension of railroads all the Western and Northwestern
"secretary Merchants Exchange.
States and Territories have been brought into intimate commer-
cial relationships with the lake ports, with the Atlantic sea- "ST. Louis, Mo., Jan. 26, 1881.
ports, and with hundreds of interior manufacturing and trading " DEAR SIR, — Referring to letter to you from chief of Bureau
points throughout the States both east and west of the Allegheny | of Statistics, dated Washington, D. C., Jan. 20, 1881, which
Mountains. This development of traffic over the east and west j letter you refer to me, I give it as my opinion that a tariff of
trunk railroads is unparalleled in the history of commerce. 15 cents per 100 pounds on grain from St. Louis to the Atlan-
" For several years the traffic passing over each one of the tic seaboard could not be maintained by railway without loss to
thirteen railroad bridges across the Mississippi River between the companies carrying at such rate.
St. Paul and St. Louis has greatly exceeded in magnitude and "The cost per ton per mile for movement of freight over the
in value the traffic upon the river beneath them. Through Pennsylvania Railroad and its connecting lines in the year 1879
these facilities of transportation tributary to Chicago and other was as follows, viz. : Over the Pennsylvania Railroad proper,
lake ports, and also to Atlantic seaports, St. Louis was for sev- 4.27 mills per ton per mile; over the New Jersey Division, 1.012
eral years practically cut off, even from the trade of important cents per ton per mile; over its lines west of Pittsburgh, 4.48
surplus grain and provision producing areas nearer to her mar- mills per ton per mile. Taking the average distances on the
kets than to those of the lake ports. It was clearly foreseen, different divisions gives 4.S9 mills per ton per mile, or $5.20
therefore, that the growth of St. Louis, as a market for the per ton, or 26 cents per 100 pounds from East St. Louis to
purchase of grain and other products of the Western and New York, reckoning by the shortest route, sny 1063 miles.
Northwestern States, was dependent upon the securing of " These figures, I am sure, are lower than the cost per mile
direct and independent railroad connections with all parts of of any other line between St. Louis and the seaboard, saying
those States ; for since railroads had become the chief instru- nothing about the longer distance to New York or Philadelphia
ment of transportation in the gathering up of these products, by every other line. It is evident, therefore, that if it costs 26
it was evident that only a very small proportion of such pro- cents per 100 pounds to transport property any given distance,
ducts could find their way to the St. Louis markets by river. a tariff of 15 cents for the same distance would be a losing one,
Such facilities for transportation by rail have within the last as Bardwell Slote would say, 'by a large majority:' or if it
ten years been secured, a fact clearly developed by the statistics costs 4.89 mills to transport one ton one mile, a tariff of 2.8 mills
showing the rapid growth of the commerce of that city. will be a losing one.
1002
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
"As to the other question, viz., whether a tariff by river of
five cents per bushel, St. Louis to New Orleans, and an average
difference of four cents in ocean rates against New Orleans, any
tariff above 15 cents per 100 pounds from St. Louis to the
Atlantic cities will turn grain in the direction of New Orleans,
I do not feel competent to answer. I should say, all other
things being equal, it would. If the same time can be made or j
nearly so, the same regularity in delivery be guaranteed, the |
condition of grain on delivery be as absolutely depended upon, '
and the facilities for handling, transferring, etc., be equally j
good by river as by rail, I do not see why, at a greatly reduced
tariff, the river should not command the business.
" Yours truly, N. STEVENS."
These facts were first fully brought to the front in
1872 by the investigations of the Senate Committee
on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard, of which
Senator (afterwards Secretary) Windom was chairman.
It was shown to this committee that, with a properly
regulated and normal commerce, it was simply impos-
sible for railroads, or a combination of lakes, canals,
and railroads, to compete in cheap transportation with
the Mississippi River and the ocean navigation from
its mouth. It was shown that the actual cost of moving
a bushel of wheat from St. Louis to New Orleans,
twelve hundred and fifty miles, was only five and a
quarter mills, .00525 of one cent.
It was also shown that in the final analysis freights
by rail could never compete with water-borne freights.
The following tables illustrate this conclusively. Rates
vary and have changed materially, but ratios remain
the same, or very nearly the same :
STATEMENT thawing the value of a ton of wheat and one of corn at a given
distance from market, as affected by cost of transportation respectively
by canal, by railroad, and over the ordinary highway.
COMPARATIVE COST AND RECEIPTS OF TRANSPORTATION.
CLASSIFICATION.
Per Ton per Per Ton per
Mile, Cost. lMile,Receipti
Transportation by railroads
Transportation by canals, including deduc-
tion, lockage, etc
Transportation by Erie Canal, including de-
duction, lockage, etc
Transportation by rivers, steam-towage
Transportation by bays
Transportation by ocean
Mills.
17.90
6.40
4.05
2.26
2.27
1.26
mi*.
29.80
11.40
2.90
3.73
2.50
If the cost of transportation be thus proportioned,
17.90 by rail to 2.26 by river and 1.26 by ocean,
she is confident that she controls the lowest rates
by the surest routes. With a perfected barge sys-
tem, the forwarding of the Mississippi River im-
provements, and the construction of the Florida ship
canal, the great trade centre on the Father of Waters
will return to its old-time supremacy in transportation
and deliver grain and other produce in Liverpool five
cents per bushel, forty cents per quarter, cheaper than
it can be done from any other centre of distribution.
The consequence will be all grain and provisions
will go to St. Louis for shipment. But another effect
will be that the United States will succeed in driving
all other competitors out of the grain and provision
markets, and our sales on foreign account will be en-
hanced to that extent. Already, as the following
table shows, we supply Great Britain with 65.4 per
cent, of her total purchases of wheat and flour, against
only 3.4 per cent, in 1866. With this new channel
of trade adequately developed, we will supply the re-
maining 34.6 per cent., and all that will be an incre-
Canal
Carriage.
Railway
Carriage.
Common
Road
Carriage.
merit of the trade of St. Louis :
STATEMENT showing the quantity of wheat and wheat flour imported into
the United Kingdom from I860 to 1880, inclusive, with the quantity
of the same imported from the United States.
[Compiled from the Reports of the British Board of Trade.]
i
J3
£
a
Wheat.
B
a
Wheat.
S
a
YEABS.
Wheat and Wheat Flour
Imported.
Per Cent, from the
United States.
Average Value of
the total Wheat
Imported.
Average Value of
Wheat Imported
from the United
States.
$49.50
49.45
49.40
49.35
49.30
49.25
49.20
49.15
49.10
48.05
48.00
47.95
47.90
47.86
47.8(1
47.75
47.70
VIM
46.90
4685
4(>.M
46.75
44.5(
41.2.-
24 T:
19.81
$24.75
24.70
24.65
24.60
24.55
24.50
24.45
24.40
24.35
24.3(1
24.25
24.20
24.15
24.10
24.i [
24.00
23.96
E&W
23.20
23.1«
28.K
19.71!
!<•>,->(
14.85
8.2t
$49.50 $24.75
49.35 24.60
49.20; 24.45
49.05 24.30
48.90 24.15
48.75 24.00
48.60 23.85
48.45 23.70
48.30 23.55
48.15; 23.30
48.00 23.25
47.85 23.10
47.70 22.95
47.55 'J'.'.sn
47411 22.i;.".
47.25 22.5(1
47.1"
46.96 22.2"
44.7(1
44.55 111. MI
44.411 r.u;:.
41.25 1 !».5i i
: it. 50 9.75
2475
19.SU
$49.50
48.00
46.50
45.00
43.50
42.00
40.50
89.00
37.50
36.00
34.50
83.00
81.60
80.00
28.50
27.00
25.50
24.00
1.50
$24.75
23.25'
21.75
20.25
18.75
17.25
15.75
14.75
14.25
11.25
9.75
8.25
0.75
5.25
2.25
.75
" 10 miles from market...
« 20 " "
« 30 " "
«« 40
« 50 " "
« 60 " '
" 70 " '
« 80 " " ..
90 " " ..
" 100 " "
" 110 " " -
« 120 " ' -
« 130 " '
» 140 " ' ..
" 150 « ' ..
160 " ' ..
» 170 " ' ...
" 320 " ' ...
330 " ' ...
« 340 " ' ...
" 350 " ' ...
" 1000 " ' ...
" 1650 " ' ...
" 1980 " ' .-
" 3300 " " ...
" 4950 " " ...
44 5940 " " -
u 9900 " *'
Total.
From the
United States.
I860
Bushels.
59,438,262
70.273,849
93,412,469
57,657,398
53,829,445
48,241,297
54,827,134
73,066,323
68,144,017
S2,9f.9,174
68,891,415
-i,490
88,877,4( ui
96,378,234
92,089,027
111,16
8,276
118,611
111,4.
127,71
Bushels.
17,388,233
29,139,548
40,628,162
22,155,801
18,811,206
2,797.317
1,840,961
9,504,5(i8
I2,60(i,::2(i
28,597,813
28,106,841
17,984,118
Hi,872
49,228.015
41.483,685
44,042,143
G2.(i97,899
83,2«9,955
83,487,243
29.3
41.5
43.5
38.4
34.9
5.8
3.4
13.0
18.5
34.5
40.8
35.2
20.2
42.2
55.2
44.3
42.8
37.2
56.3
Cl.l
65.4
Per Bush.
$1.71
1.66
1.49
1.31
1.22
1.25
1.48
1.90
1.79
1.37
1.39
1.58
1.66
1.74
1.63
1.42
1.40
1.07
1.50
1.43
1.50
Per Bush.
$1.721
1.661
1.512
1.316
1.221
1.265
1.546
2.039
1.929
1.379
1.388
1.587
1.704
1.714
1.641
1.405
1.409
1.672
1.505
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1*72
1873
1874
ls7f,
1*77
1>-7S
IST'.I
1880
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1003
We are free to admit that there are serious draw-
backs to the immediate realization of all these pleasant
prospects, but none of them seem to belong to the
^class of any but the preventable diseases. Prudence,
forethought, wise management in respect of legislation,
economy of resources, careful selection of representa-
tives, and liberal expenditure when great ends are to
be accomplished will bring to pass every desirable re-
sult for a city possessing already such incomparable
resources. But it will be wisest to consider these
drawbacks and obstructions first, as the presentation
of them may suggest the remedies which should be
applied. The construction of the Eads jetties has
already taken away one of these hindrances to com-
merce. The cutting of the Florida ship canal and
the construction of the Tehuantepec ship canal or
railway will remove others. The benefits derived
from the jetties are very conspicuous. It was diffi-
cult to get sixteen feet of water on the bar in any
of the passes in the mouth of the Mississippi. Now
there is twenty-six feet regularly maintained. The
charge for towage has in consequence been reduced
from a dollar and a half per ton to one-third that
figure, and there is a material reduction on account of
insurance.
But there are other hindrances and obstructions
not yet removed. The ice is often troublesome, not
below Cairo, but between that city and St. Louis.
The*interruption to navigation from this cause, which
at Chicago gives the railroads a monopoly of traffic
for a hundred and forty days in each year, occurs
nearly every winter. During the last seventeen years
navigation has been suspended at St. Louis on account
of ice as follows :
Days
Suspended.
Winter of 1865-66, navigation suspended 27
1866—67,
1867-68,
1869-70,
1870-71,
1871-72,
1872-73,
1874-75,
1876-77,
1878-79,
1879-80,
1880-81,
1881-82,
During the winters of 1868-69, 1873-74, 1875-76, and 1877-
78, the river was open, and navigation was not suspended.
The navigation of the Mississippi River is at times
affected also by low water, especially in that part of
the river between St. Louis and Cairo. The enjoy-
ment to the full extent of the advantages afforded by
the Mississippi River requires the employment of
steamboats and barges of large size and drawing
when loaded about eight feet of water. At times,
however, the river falls so as to admit only of the em-
ployment of boats and barges loaded to draw not
more than four feet. This greatly increases the cost
of transportation. The actual cost of transportation
in vessels drawing only four feet is said to be nearly
twice as great as when loaded to eight feet.
This subject was carefully considered by a select
Committee of the Senate on Transportation Routes
to the Seaboard in their report submitted April 24,
1874.
It was found that during the nine years from 1865
to 1873 the condition of river navigation below the
city of St. Louis was as follows :
Average number of days less than 4 feet 3$
" over 4 and less than 6 feet 52§
" " over 6 and less than 8 feet 103$
" " over 8 and less than 10 feet 694
" " over 10 feet 136§
It appears from the foregoing table that during
nearly one-half of the year the commerce of St.
Louis was more -or less affected by low water.
The average stage of the river below St. Louis
during the years from 1874 to 1880, inclusive, was as
follows :
YEAR.
1874
1875
1876
18771
18782 ,
1879s ,
1880*....
•
•
£
8"
*O +1
•0*5
'O'g
c <o
C (D
_
08 (2
*•£
ce «S
•*
• .u
d
•
I:
•goo
^2 a
1!
5
d
tl
•1
6
ai —
>•
E
A
O
O
O
Days.
Days.
Daj^».
Days.
146
30
175
No record.
No record.
64
80
59
51
92
87
4
81
79
55
20
66
73
46
Dayt.
14
126
119
105
156
The interruption to the navigation of the Missis-
sippi River at St. Louis on account of ice and low
water is of course detrimental to commerce. The
average annual duration of the efficient commercial
usefulness of the Mississippi River is, however, con-
siderably greater than is that of the northern water
line. The average time during which navigation is
suspended by ice each year on the Erie Canal and on
the Canadian canal is about five months. The aver-
age time each year during which navigation has been
entirely suspended on the Mississippi River at St.
Louis in consequence of ice during the last ten sea-
sons was only thirty-five days, and the average time
each year during which steamboats and barges could
1 Closed for thirty-six days on account of low water.
J Closed for sixteen days on account of low water.
8 Closed for forty-one days on account of low water.
* Closed for four days on account of low water.
1004
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
not be loaded to eight feet, in consequence of ice and
low water, during the seven years from 1874 to 1880,
inclusive, was only about one hundred and twenty-
six days, or about three and one-fifth mouths.
The suspension of navigation at St. Louis does not,
however, at any time cause an entire suspension of
the river traffic, as during such periods shipments are
made by rail from St. Louis to Cairo, 111., and to Bel-
mont, Mo., at which points merchandise is trans-
shipped to steamers and to barges. Navigation is
seldom, if ever, obstructed below Cairo or Belmont,
either on account of ice or low water.
The supposed injury to grain from the heat and
humidity of the tropical belt between New Orleans
and the Florida capes has been proved to be a fallacy,
and prices are not affected by it. But the existence
of yellow fever more or less nearly every season in the
lower Mississippi is an admitted hindrance.
Improvements in sanitary measures and precautions
are necessary to remove these obstructions. They
are necessary equally to the commercial existence of
the towns and cities which are exposed to these as-
saults of pestilence, and within two years very great
improvements have been effected, especially in sewer-
age and drainage, at New Orleans and Memphis.
Much still remains to be done, of course, but a
good beginning has been made, and the work will go
on.
The improvement of the Mississippi River has also
been undertaken upon an expensive and comprehen-
sive system, which, when it is completed, is expected
to make this noble river safely and easily navigable at
nearly all seasons. If that should be accomplished,
it is hoped that a reciprocity treaty with Mexico, and
an equitable trade treaty with Spain, in respect of our
commodities in the ports of Cuba and Porto Rico, will
give St. Louis, through her combinations of railroads
and water routes, a most extensive and valuable trade
in tropical products. Hon. W. M. Burwell, of New
Orleans, in a communication made to the Windom
Congressional Committee on Transportation Routes in
1873, said,—
" The subject upon which I am specially requested to report
is in regard to the state of commerce between the valley of the
, Mississippi and the Spanish-American States. There are many
of us who believe that the trade lines of latitude cross above us,
and that a very large proportion of the western productions
will move directly to Atlantic ports for exportation, as they will
and have received the foreign importations through the same
ports. I would say that in the estimation of many in this city,
merchants and others, the most important object of improving
the Mississippi River will be to establish a direct line of com-
munication between the immense productive interior of the
West and the consuming markets of and beyond the tropics.
There is a physical impediment in the way which we ask Con-
gress to remove; but there are diplomatic impediments also
which are even greater, as far as that line of trade is concerned,
than the physical impediments to which I referred. The diplo-
matic impediments consist in the want of reciprocal trade-
treaties between the United States and the Spanish-American
States that are adjacent to or lie south of us. Gentlemen know,
and especially members of the Senate of the United States, bet-
ter than we do, the precise state of the treaties between the
United States and the Spanish-American powers, and they will
remember that, with the exception of a few special conventions,
there have been scarcely any changes made in the treaty rela-
tions of those two great interests since almost the origin of the
government. Almost all our trade-treaties, as I understand, are
based on the phrase of 'the most favored nations;' and while
such are the terms of our commercial treaties with Spain, and
while it is true that we can carry American provisions or Amer-
ican manufactures into Spanish possessions on the same terms
with any other power, yet when the fact is that we are the
only people producing corn and grain and hog products, that
we do send to the Spanish-American possessions, it is perfectly
plain that that which is a tax on the trade of the most favored
nations is practically an oppressive tax upon the trade of the
United States. The Spanish tax in Cuba is 40 cents on the
bushel of corn, which is altogether equivalent to the entire cost
of transportation from Iowa to New York. The tax there is
$55 on an American horse, $19 on a mule, $8 on a barrel of
flour, and 3J cents on lard; and it is plain that a tax of 80 per
cent., which is the average upon the products almost exclu-
sively marketed by Americans, is an excessive tax when con-
trasted with the American tax upon the products of Cuba. We,
as I understand, only tax two of the principal products of Cuba.
We admit her coffee duty free, and we impose a tax of some-
thing upwards of two cents on sugar, and a tax of some 75 per
cent, on tobacco manufactured and not manufactured."
Ex-President Grant has some very "advanced"
and decided views upon this subject, and it is be-
lieved that, with a reciprocity treaty with Mexico and
the navigation of the Mississippi properly improved,
St. Louis could control the entire grocery trade of the
Mississippi valley, and refine all the sugar consumed
by thirty million people. The vessels taking corn,
cotton, and grain and provisions to Europe could
return via Trinidad and the Caribbean Sea, picking
up cargoes of raw sugar on their way around the
Gulf, and thus freight would be saved on both out-
ward and inward cargoes. These countries, together
with South America, have a commerce the total
annual value of which exceeds eight hundred million
dollars.
But it is imperative to improve the channel of the
river before this commerce can be invited in. The
general plan of the improvements which are now in
process was succinctly sketched in a letter from Col.
J. H. Simpson, United States engineer, to Hon. E.
0. Stanard, of the Union Merchants' Exchange, St.
Louis, on Oct. 29, 1873.
But a much more comprehensive plan is under
consideration, involving the expenditure, probably, of
more than a hundred millions before the improvements
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1005
are completed for the whole river upon a scale com-
mensurate with the commerce involved.
'• Xo adequate estimate can be formed of the value of the com-
merce on the Mississippi River, nor of the value of the total
commerce of the towns situated upon it. An idea of the magni-
tude of this commerce may, however, be formed when it is con-
sidered that the value of the commerce of the cities and towns
on the Ohio Iliver amounted to the enormous sum of one billion
six 'hundred and twenty-three million dollars in 1873. The
national government has provided no means of arriving at a
knowledge of such important facts as this in regard to the in-
ternal commerce of the country. The collection of the necessary
data from private sources, and from data prepared by boards of
trade, State and city governments, would alone require the
constant labor of one person for a year.
"Not only has the commerce of the Mississippi River been
crippled by the existence of the bar at its mouth, but the value
of the river above is greatly depreciated by obstructions which
may be overcome very readily by engineering skill, and at an
expense quite insignificant in comparison either with the present
value of its commerce, or with the increase of trade which may
be expected as the natural result of such improvements.
Hitherto the improvement of the Mississippi has been carried
on merely by sporadic efforts. Appropriations have from time
to time been made and money expended, without any general
plan as to the ultimate results which were to be attained. The
committee recommend that the necessary surveys and estimates
be made at the earliest practicable moment, in order to mature
a plan for the radical improvement of the river, and of all its
navigable tributaries.
" Such a plan should comprehend the establishment of a given
depth of water on the Mississippi River in some such manner as
the following :
" 1st. Improvements designed to secure a depth of from eight
to ten feet from St. Louis to New Orleans at the lowest stages
of the river.
" 2d. Improvements designed to secure a depth of five feet at
the lowest stages between St. Louis and St. Paul.
" 3d. Improvements designed to secure a depth of four and
one-half feet in the river above St. Anthony's Falls.
" Having adopted a plan of this kind for the radical improve-
ment of the river, all works should be carried out with this
general object in view.
" It is much more practicable to establish such a plan now than
it was a few years ago, for the reasons that the successes and
failures of past efforts have enabled engineers to discover the
nature of the difficulties which will be met, and to adopt the
best methods of improvement. Diverse opinions still exist
among some of our ablest engineers as to the best means to be
adopted in specific cases, but it is believed that sufficient practical
knowledge has already been gained to determine a general plan
of future operations, both in regard to the Mississippi River and
its principal navigable tributaries. The time has arrived for
orough measures, and the necessary plans and estimates upon
ich such measures must be based should be prepared at once.
•' It is impossible to overestimate the commercial results likely
to follow such improvements. With the well-established facts
before us in regard to the much greater cheapness of transport
by navigable rivers than by railways, it cannot be doubted that
Etich improvements would increase the commerce of the Mis-
sissippi very greatly, and at the same time afford relief to a
large area in the Western States now fettered in its growth and
prosperity by the cost of transporting agricultural products to
both home and foreign markets." l
Such is the noble perspective of the aspirations of
St. Louis for the commerce of the future : the centre
of a valley of magnificent, continental proportions,
gathering up the products of hundreds of millions of
intelligent people, cultivating the soil of the most fer-
tile of regions, supplying the world with their pro-
ducts, and supplying the producers in return with all
the merchandise which enters into their consumption.
These hundreds of millions of people will be brain-
workers and machine-workers, and the volume of their
products will be stimulated and augmented in propor-
tion to the grand culmination of their intelligence,
until human force will find itself the conductor of a
grand and perfected mechanism of subsidiary forces
such as the world never before saw at play.
Confidence of the Citizens of St. Louis in the
Natural Advantages and Future Destiny of their
City. — We may now proceed to consider how and how
greatly the several constituents of a great and permanent
volume of trade, production, conversion, and exchange
have each in their turn, by the force of natural and
acquired advantages, contributed to make St. Louis a
trade centre. It is first to be noted, however, that
from the very beginning the people of St. Louis have
been conscious of its transcendent natural advantages
and confident of its destinies as the trade centre of the
America of the future. This has been the case from
the time of Henry M. Brackenridge's first remark-
able horoscope of the infant town's destiny down to
the day of the abortive " convention" to make St.
Louis the capital of the United States.2
1 Such was the view of theWiudom Committee in 1873.
64
2 The enterprise was premature, and therefore not so wise as
it might have been, but it has been laughed at probably more
than it deserved. At present it may be said to sleep, for no one
can pronounce it dead while the power, population, and wealth
of the United States continue to gravitate so strongly towards
the heart and centre of the valley of the Mississippi. The
centre of population, which is now in Kentucky, just west of
Cincinnati, is moving upon a parallel of latitude that will take
it to St. Louis before A.D. 1900, and at that date more than
two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives will
be elected from districts west of the meridian of Pittsburgh,
which was a far western frontier town at the day when the site
of the Federal city was chosen upon the Potomac. As a matter
of record, some of the proceedings of the " Capital Convention"
are worth preserving. It assembled in the hall of the Mercantile
Library on the afternoon of Oct. 20, 1869, and was called to order
by L. R. Shryock, who was followed in prayer by Rev. R.
G. Bransk, of the Central Presbyterian Church. The States
and Territories which were represented were Alabama, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Alaska,
Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Ten-
nessee, Utah, :ind .Missouri, — 17. The delegate's from the last-
named State wero Governor J. W . McClurg, John Hogan,
E. 0. Stanard, Enos Clark, B. Poepping, G. A. Mozier, George
Thelenius, T. T. Tracy, M. L. DeMotte, James H. Birch, A. J.
HarJan, H. J. Drumond, F. Muench, G. R. Smith, W. Galland.
1006
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
We could produce, if it were necessary and we had
the space, a long chain of testimony from the earliest
period down to the present day to show how confident
the thinking people of St. Louis have always been in
John D. Caton, of Illinois, was made president, with a vice-
president for each State and Territory, and a staff of secretaries.
Mr. Medill, of Illinois, read the following as the report of the
committee on resolutions :
"WHEREAS, The present site of the national capital was se-
lected as the most central point when the people of this repub-
lic, only a few millions in number, inhabited only a narrow
strip of country along the Atlantic coast; and,
" WHEREAS, The population of this republic has increased
thirteen-fold since then, and spread over a vast continent of
which the States in existence when the seat of government was
located formed only the eastern edge; and,
" WHEREAS, The present location of the national capital is
notoriously inconvenient in times of peace, and, as the darkest
pages of our national history demonstrate, in times of war or
domestic turbulence is so dangerously exposed as to require
vast armaments and untold millions of money for its especial
defense; and,
" WHEREAS, All the reasons which caused the location of the
seat of government where it now is have by the enormous de-
velopment of the country and a corresponding change in the
wants of the people become utterly obsolete; therefore,
" Resolved, 1. That it is absurd to suppose that the handful
of inhabitants in 1789, just emerging from colonial vassalage,
before steamboats, railways, telegraphs, or power-presses were
dreamed of, or a mile of turnpike or canal constructed, pos-
sessed the authority or desired to exercise the power of fix-
ing the site of the capital forever on the banks of the Potomac,
against the will and the interest of the hundreds of millions who
might come after them.
" 2. That the people have endured the present illy-located
capital for three-quarters of a century, patiently waiting for
the vast territory of the Union to be peopled and organized
into States, and until the centre of population, area, and
wealth could be determined, when a permanent place of resi-
dence for the government could be selected. That time has
now come; all sectional issues are settled, all dangerous domes-
tic variances are disposed of, a new era has been entered upon,
and a new departure taken.
" 3. That in the language of James Madison, in the Congress
of 1789, ' an equal attention to the rights of the community is
the basis of republics. If we consider the effects of legisla-
tive power on the aggregnte community, we must feel equal in-
ducements to look to the centre in order to find the proper seat
of government.' This equal attention has not and cannot be
given to the interests and rights of the people so long as the
capital is located in an obscure corner of the Union.
" 4. That the vast and fertile region known as the Mississippi
valley must for all time be the seat of empire for this continent
and exert the controlling influence in the nation, because it is
homogeneous in its interests and too powerful ever to permit
the outlying States to sever their connection with the Union.
This vast plain will always be the surplus food- and fibre-pro-
ducing portion of the continent, and the great market for the
fine fabrics and tropical productions of other sections of the
republic. . . .' This immense basin must have numerous out-
lets and channels of cheap and swift communication by water
and rail with the seaboard for the egress of its products and
ingress of its exchanges. Therefore whatever policy the gov-
ernment may pursue that tends to multiply, improve, or enlarge
the city's future and its destinies. This has made
them calm even to the appearance of apathy, equally
in times of high tide and times of low, when pros-
perity was at its flush and when evil fortune and dis-
aster were being drained down to the very dregs.
They have never been in a fever uor in a collapse,
because they have always felt secure. A few ex-
these arteries of commerce must result in common advantage
to the whole Union, to the seaboard States equally with those
of the centre.
"5. That the natural, convenient, and inevitable place for
the capital of the republic is in the heart of the valley, where
the centre of population, wealth, and power is irresistibly grav-
itating, where the government, surrounded by numerous mil-
lions of brave and Union-loving citizens, would be forever safe
against foreign foes or sectional seditions, and where it would
neither require armaments nor standing armies for its protection.
"6. That while advocating the removal of the seat of gov-
ernment to the Mississippi valley, we do not mean to serve the
interests of any particular locality, but that we urge Congress
to appoint a commission for the purpose of selecting a conve-
nient site for the national capital in the great valley of the
Mississippi, pledging ourselves to be satisfied with and to abide
by the decision to be arrived at by the National Legislature.
"7. That in urging the removal of the national capital from
its present inconvenient, out-of-the-way, and exposed location
in the far East we are in earnest, and that we shall not cease
in our efforts until that end is accomplished, firmly believing
that the absolute necessity of the removal will become more
apparent every day, and the majority of the American people
will not long permit their interests and conveniences to be dis-
regarded.
'' 8. That the removal of the national capital being only a
question of time, we emphatically oppose and condemn all ex-
penditures of m'oney for enlargement of old government build-
ings and the erection of new ones at the present seat of the
national government as a useless and wanton waste of the prop-
erty of the people."
Mr. Clark, of Kansas, offered the following resolution :
" Resolved, That this convention do recommend and request
all congressional nominating conventions in the various States,
without distinction of party, to incorporate in their platform a
demand for the removal of the national capital to a more cen-
tral and convenient locality."
Mr. Jones, of Illinois, moved to strike out "without distinc-
tion of party." Adopted.
On the suggestion of Mr. Hogan, of Missouri, the following
was added to the resolution :
"And that the State Legislatures instruct their senators in
Congress to advocate and vote for such a proposition."
Mr. Carr, of Illinois, offered the following resolution :
" Resolved, That a standing committee of one from each State
here represented be appointed by this convention, to which the
president of this convention shall be added, to act as a ' per-
manent committee upon the subject of capital removal,' with
power to act on behalf of this convention, and to publish an
address to the people of this country, with power to call an-
other convention at such time in the future as they may deem
expedient and proper."
An executive committee was appointed, of which the chair-
man of the convention was made president and L. U. Reavis
secretary, and after a harmonious interchange of views and a
good many speeches the convention adjourned.
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1007
amples, taken hap-hazard, will suffice to illustrate
this equanimity and this unvarying confidence in their
own resources.
From the Missouri Gazette, June 20, 1811 :
"We are happy to find that a spirit of enterprise and indus-
try is every day manifesting itself among the people of this Ter-
ritory. They begin to be convinced that the peltry and fur
trade is diminishing in value, and that it is necessary to give
up in part the old staple, and turn their attention to the more
important one of lead. During the last two weeks several
boats have left this place in order to enlarge the mineral estab-
lishments made many years ngo by Julien Dubuque at a place
called the ' Spanish Mines,' on the Mississippi.
" The present adventurers have become the purchasers of a
part of these mines under an order of the General Court of this
Territory, and have taken with them near one hundred hands,
provided with all the implements necessary for mining and car-
rying on the lead business."
The same, March 1, 1809 :
"The culture of hemp has occupied the attention of our
farmers, and a rope-walk will shortly be erected in this town.
Thus we have commenced the manufacturing of such articles as
will attract thousands of dollars to our Territory ; thus we will
progress in freeing John Bull or Jack Ass of the trouble of
manufacturing for us."
The same, July 17, 1813:
"In despite of the savages, Indians and British, this country
is progressing in improvements. A red and white lead manufac-
tory has been established in this place by a citizen of Philadel-
phia by the name of Hartshog. This enterprising citizen has
caused extensive works to be erected, to which he has added a
handsome brick house in our principal street for retailing
merchandise. We understand that his agents here have already
sent several thousand dollars' worth of manufactured lead to
the Atlantic States."
In 1816 a bank was found to be necessary. The
citizens at once subscribed the stock and started one.
It fell soon into financial straits. The citizens re-
newed its capital, doubled it, and started another bank
with three times as much capital. The confidence
with which J. B. C. Lucas and Auguste Chouteau
kept themselves poor, almost penniless, by investing
all their money in lands and never selling was
matched by the composure of Manuel Lisa in risking
all the profits of his fur-trade adventure in a water-
front merchant's mill, an experiment as yet untried.
We have elsewhere quoted from Paxton's first St.
Louis directory, 1821. In concluding his summary
of beings and havings Paxton said, " St. Louis has
grown very rapidly. There is not, however, so much
improvement going on at this time, owing to the
check caused by the general and universal pressure
that pervades the country. This state of things can
only be temporary here, for it possesses such perma-
nent advantages from its local and geographical situa-
tion that it must ere some distant day become a place
of great importance, being more central with regard
to the whole territory of the United States than any
other considerable town, and uniting the advantage
of the three great rivers, Mississippi, Missouri, and
Illinois, of the trade of which it is the emporium."
In 1831 the press said the same thing. The city
was growing rapidly. Fine, substantial houses were
being built. The arts and useful manufactures were
multiplying and improving ; " mills, breweries, me-
chanical establishments, all seem to be advancing
successfully for the good of the country, and, we hope,
for the great profit of our enterprising and industrious
fellow-citizens. The trade and navigation of this
port are becoming immense. Steamboats are daily
arriving and departing from east, west, north, and
south, and as this place has decided advantages over
all the ports on the Ohio River for laying up and
repairing, we have no doubt that in a few years the
building and repairing of steam-engines and boats
will become one of the most important branches of
St. Louis business. We have all the materials, wood
and metal, in abundance and of the best quality.
Already we have a foundry, which, it is hoped, will
soon rival the best in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and
many skilled and enterprising mechanics. A bright
prospect is before us, and we look confidently to the
day, and that a not distant one, when no town on the
western waters will rank above St. Louis for industry,
wealth, and enterprise." In 1835 again : " The
prosperity of our city is laid broad and deep. Much
as we repudiate the lavish praises which teem from
the press, and little as we have heretofore said, we
cannot suffer the occasion to pass without a few re-
marks on the changes which are going on around
us. ... A tract of land was purchased by a gentle-
man now living, as we have understood, for two bar-
rels of whiskey, which is now worth half a million of
dollars. ... No one who consults the map can fail
to perceive the foresight which induced the selection
of the site on which the city is founded. She al-
ready commands the trade of a larger section of terri-
tory, with a few exceptions, than any other city in
the Union. With a steamboat navigation more than
equal to the whole Atlantic seaboard, with internal
improvements projected and in progress, with thou-
sands of immigrants spreading their habitations over
the fertile plains which everywhere meet the eye, who
can deny that we are fast verging to the time when
it will be admitted that this city is the ( Lion of the
West.1 "
In 1839, Rev. Dr. Humphrey wrote some " Letters
by the Way," in one of which we find St. Louis de-
scribed and its future once more prognosticated.
Says the learned divine, —
1008
HISTORY OF SALNT LOUIS.
"St. Louis is larger than I had supposed, and appears to be
advancing more rapidly than any other town that I have seen
in the West. The city proper now contains about fifteen thou-
sand inhabitants, and there are nearly as many more without
the limits in the immediate neighborhood. Many hundreds of
houses were built last year, notwithstanding the pressure of the
times, and many more are going up this year. Rents are
enormously high, higher than in any eastern city, not except-
ing New York itself, and I believe higher than anywhere else on
the continent of America. For a handsome two-story brick
house, with one parlor in front, you would have to pay seven
or eight hundred dollars per annum. St. Louis must, from its
position, become a very large commercial city, and there is no
prospect that any other town on the Mississippi above New
Orleans will be able to compete with it. Already the landing,
covered with iron and lead and all kinds of heavy goods, re-
minds you of one of the front streets of New York or Phila-
delphia. But why don't they build wharves here?
" In the lower and much the oldest part of the town, where
the French chiefly reside, the streets are narrow and filthy.
The buildings are for the most part small, and constructed
with the least possible regard either to elegance or comfort.
Hogs and dogs seemed, the morning I passed through it, to
have undisputed possession of the ground, and the latter had
many a comfortable wallowing-place in front of the houses.
" St. Louis," says the reverend doctor, " like most of our
young and rising towns, especially where there are oceans of
territory, is without any public parks or promenades. A vacant
square, however, was pointed out to me, in the heart of the
city, which may be had at a fair price, though it will now cost
much more that it was offered for two years ago. Surely
nothing should prevent the corporation from purchasing it.
Let it be handsomely laid out in graveled walks, and planted
with shade-trees and shrubbery, and it would be worth more to
St. Louis than if it were all covered over with gold. But even
this would be inadequate to the rapid extension and growing
wants of the place. It is a bad maxim, ' Let posterity take
care of themselves.' Now is the time to secure fifty or a hun-
dred acres for a grand park, as a place of common resort for
relaxation, health, and pleasure. This might now be done
within two miles of the heart of the city for a small sum. In
riding out with a friend I saw three or four fine locations, cov-
ered with a thrifty growth of young trees, offering the city the
strongest inducements to be beforehand with private pur-
chasers. It would not be necessary to lay out a dollar in pre-
paring and ornamenting the grounds for the present. But I
repeat it, at the hazard of being set down as an enthusiast in
matters of this sort, the purchase ought forthwith be made, and
whatever the present generation of utilitarians may think, I
pledge the little credit I have for forecast that a hundred years
hence St. Louis will be prouder of her great park than of any
thing else she will have to boast of."
What would the learned gentleman say to-day if he
could visit St. Louis, and learn that the city has well-
nigh on to an acre of park for each head of a family ?
Dr. Humphrey adds, —
" As a proof of the rapid increase of business and population
in St. Louis, I may mention that one of the largest hotels I have
ever seen is now going up. It appears to me to be quite as
large as the Astor House in New York, and although it will
cost a very large sum, I believe everybody regards it as a good
investment. Certainly such a ' strangers' home' in this great
thoroughfare of western travel will be highly appreciated by
thousands. But where is St. Louis, in the west or the east
or somewhere near the centre of the United States ? I confess
I do not know. But my impression is that, making an allow-
ance of one or two thousand miles, which cannot be of much
consequence one way or the other, St. Louis will be found
somewhere in the great West.
" Let St. Louis go on and lay all her foundations broad and
deep. She has most unquestionably a high destiny before her,
and who can tell how much the present generation may do in
making it?"
In 1846 the St. Louis Prices Current thus esti-
mated the general progress of the community :
" St. Louis seems to continue to be a favorite point for the
location of the merchant, the tradesman, and others who, hav-
ing left the home of their fathers, resolve to settle at some
point in the ' Great West,' if we may judge from the great in-
flux of inhabitants which pour into it and fix their residence
here from year to year. The official statistics, in part reported
to the City Council during the past year, warrant us in saying
that the number of houses, factories, etc., which have been
erected during the past year within the corporate limits is not
less than seventeen hundred, and that its population has aug-
mented full four thousand. We estimate its present population
to exceed forty thousand, and augmenting with a rapidity un-
exampled in the annals of any city either east or west; and its
trade and commerce keep pace with its influx of population, as
will be shown by some few statistics annexed.
" The assumed value of real estate the past year is more than
thirteen million dollars, being an increase over the value in
1830 of more than twelve millions ; and the current city revenue
of 1845 is estimated, per official data, at two hundred and
twenty-seven thousand dollars, twenty thousand of which are
received from our steamboat tonnage, and seventeen thousand
from water revenues. These are some data on which the re-
flecting mind may estimate our progress and prosperity.
" During the past year the mercantile and trading interests
have had no cause to complain. The merchant has found ready
sale for his goods, the tradesman and mechanic have been fully
employed, and the laboring classes who were not indisposed to
work have had the opportunity to lay up ample stores to serve
them during the inclement season now upon us. Our city has
enjoyed during the past year its usual health, and while we
acknowledge our dependence upon the Author of all our bless-
ings, we should not be unmindful of the debt of gratitude we
owe to Him from whom cometh every blessing."
In 1848 it was said that "the natural advantages of St. Louis,
in a commercial and manufacturing point of view, are greater
than those of any city in the West ; and it is only necessary for
the general government to pursue a liberal and equitable course
towards her, and for her citizens to strengthen these advantages
by their enterprise and public spirit, to make her (and that, too,
in a very short time) the largest and most important inland city
in the Union. Her immense resources are being daily developed
and turned to advantage; her population and business are in-
crrasing beyond a precedent in the history of this country : her
wealth and prosperity are exciting wonder and admiration, and
coiuinanding respect and attention from every portion of the
United States, and wherever else her commerce and name has
j extended. Situated as she is, on the great Mississippi, in the
i centre of a fertile and healthy region of country, with the
waters of four navigable streams sweeping her shores, and
bearing the mineral and agricultural products of four large
and populous States, which must necessarily pass through the
hands of her merchants, in direct communication with all the
important towns and cities in the West, enjoying also manu-
facturing facilities of the highest order, and hoMing in her
natural grasp the commercial operations of several millions
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1009
of people, — these are resources of which but few cities in the
Union, or perhaps in the world, can boast.
"Our city is rapidly improving in wealth and importance,
even beyond the expectations of the most sanguine. Manufac-
tories and machine-shops are daily springing up in our midst,
and many articles hitherto imported for domestic purposes have
now become important items of export. The value and quantity
of manufactured articles annually imported from the Ohio are
rapidly diminishing, and we look forward with a great degree
of certainty to the time, and that at no very distant day, when
St. Louis will not only prove the great commercial emporium of
the Mississippi valley, but also the machine-shop of the entire
West. Her facilities for the manufacture of many imported
articles are even now greater than the cities from whence they
come, and it is only necessary for our manufacturing resources
to be properly developed to bring capitalists and mechanics
hither, where their money and labor can be employed with cer-
tainty and profit.
"In 1840, with the exception of several flouring- and saw-
mills of inconsiderable note, we were entirely destitute of
manufactories, and even at a later date our establishments in
this respect were scarcely worthy of attention. Since, however,
cotton, woolen, soap, candle, starch, and various other manufac-
tories have sprung into existence, and are now driving a lucra-
tive and extensive business, to say nothing of the foundries
(about eighteen in number), flouring-fcills, machine-shops, etc.,
with which the city abounds. Our population in 1830 was esti-
mated at six thousand six hundred and ninety-four, in 1840 at
sixteen thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, and by the late
State census at fifty-six thousand, showing that it has more than
trebled in eight years."
In 1849, the year of cholera and fire and financial
depression, the voice of trade was as follows :
" We have repeatedly spoken of the great manufacturing and
commercial facilities of St. Louis, and notwithstanding the mis-
fortunes and afflictions of the past season, all that has been said
of her Wealth and constantly increasing commerce is being
daily confirmed. Not a year passes but we are called upon to
note new discoveries of mineral deposits, the increase or exten-
sion of manufactures, or marked changes in her extensive inter-
course with different portions of the country; and by means of
a wide-spread navigation, distant points, hitherto inaccessible,
are being brought within the boundaries of her trade, and new
commodities, either for consumption or export, are constantly
arriving at her wharf. Her manufacturing interests, too, are
not neglected, and there is a steady and uninterrupted increase
of mills, foundries, machine-shops, and various minor mechani-
cal works, for the consumption of coal, iron, lead, grain, etc.,
which bid fair to become permanent and profitable invest-
ments. As a commercial city, St. Louis ranks second in the
West, — a distinction attained within the past ten years, — and if
her progress is onward, as is generally conceded, ten years more
will scarcely transpire before, in many of the most important
branches of commerce and manufactures, she will be classed as
the first. With a population of seventy thousand, she has con-
tinued to increase in strength and improve in size down to the
present period, and in commencing the last half of the present
century it may not be thought visionary to predict that before
it expires she will be in direct communication with the lakes,
the Eastern seaboard, and the Pacific, and thus become the cen-
tral depot for the vast commerce of the two hemispheres."
In 1858, upon occasion of the establishment of the
overland mail to California, we read the following in
the current news notes of the day :
"Arrival of the Overland Mail. — What has hitherto been re-
garded as a visionary and speculative enterprise has been estab-
lished beyond all doubt, and St. Louis and San Francisco have
been brought within twenty-four days' travel of each other, on
a stage line, and a route which will admit of easier and safer
travel than did the trip from St. Louis to Philadelphia thirty
years ago.
" When the Atlantic cable was laid it was hoped that
daily communication had thus been established between Europe
and America. In our opinion a greater enterprise has been
accomplished in the establishment of an overland mail con-
i necting the Atlantic with the Pacific, passing over our own
soil, and affording a semi-weekly, soon to be converted into a
I daily, communication between the extremes of the republic.
I Nine years ago, when the discovery of gold in California led
to the immense emigration to that State, it was regarded as an
I expeditious trip if made from the Mississippi to the Pacific in
j eighty to one hundred days. Thousands were occupied a much
[ longer time, and hundreds perished by the wayside. The
; establishment of this mail route, and of the route from St.
| Joseph to Utah, and thence to Sacramento, has changed the
) whole current of things; and it is now demonstrated, on a first
trial and under adverse circumstances-, that it is practicable to
i carry the mail to San Francisco in twenty-four days, and this
| will be reduced, if necessary, below twenty days."
I
In 1854 the city's condition and prospects were
described as follows :
" Here stands a city, enjoying far beyond any other city of
the same magnitude or pretensions the advantages of that
inland navigation, compared with which even our vast foreign
commerce is sinking into insignificance. It has five thousand
miles of that navigation belonging peculiarly to its own
water*, with ten thousand miles of coast, yielding up the
| products of an immense and fertile region, for which it fur-
nishes a thousand outlets. To these may be added the forty
thousand miles more of navigable rivers which connect with
St. Louis. Soon the vast means of communication furnished
in this way to our city will be enlarged by the completion of
twelve hundred miles of railroad already begun or projected
within the borders of the State, and connected with a network
of similar roads stretching to every point of the Union, in one
direction to the Gulf of Mexico, in another to the head-waters
of the Mississippi, and in a third to Labrador in the far east
and to San Francisco in the far west. Through her gates will
pour the commerce of the Pacific, of India, and of the isles of
the ocean on the one hand, and the commerce of the Atlantic
and of Europe on the other. Stripping from her all which
may be considered as accidental or adventitious, — all of which
jealous and more fortunate rivals may by possibility deprive
her, — still she is left the commercial centre, the natural mart of
seven hundred thousand square miles of territory, full of min-
eral and agricultural resources, and capable of sustaining in
vigorous life a population of a hundred millions. . . . What
shall forbid an accumulation here of inhabitants beyond any-
thing of which we have authentic records, millions upon
millions, until there shall have sprung up here a city contain-
ing hundreds of square miles, with an area even then affording
i but reasonable accommodations for the vast multitudes col-
I lected within it, — a city with quays and warehouses stretching
1 interminably in lines which, still unbroken, fade out of sight
in the dim distance ? Of course, such visions relate to the
future ; but that future, midst the growth of such a nation as
ours, cannot be long postponed. Meanwhile the present gen-
oration will witness a progress with which it may well be con-
1 tent. That progress, it is true, will depend much upon the
1010
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
enterprise and energies of our citizens. We are fully aware of
this truth, while we repeat the expressions of our confidence in
that progress. For we fully rely on it that its citizens will be
true to their city and themselves, alike the thousands who are
now here and the hundreds of thousands still to come higher.
That may be no idle dream which conceives for St. Louis the
most exalted destiny, which, with a just, prophetic forecast,
transforms the humble hamlet of Laclede into the future me-
tropolis of the New World."
In 1857 one of the " manifest destiny" writers of
St. Louis (the greater part of them are of that order)
wrote as follows:
" This city is beginning to receive the attention from abroad
which her rapid growth, her extraordinary natural advantages,
and her approaching dentiny demand.
" Her present commercial importance, which is unsurpassed
by any city in the valley of the Mississippi, is derived from
river navigation alone ; and her commerce from this source is
drawn from the most extensive and the richest agricultural and
mineral region in the world, scarcely one-tenth of whose wealth
and latent resources are yet developed.
" There is nothing problematical therefore in this statement,
the geographical fact speaks for itself. The commerce of St.
Louis will be increased ten times its magnitude in less than
twenty-five years from the one source which has made her now
all that she is, from river navigation alone.
"To this advantage of river navigation, which is unequaled
by any city in the world, and which must ever continue to be
her most important and cherished source of wealth, is now being
superadded that of railroad facilities. The commercial import-
ance given to St. Louis by her river navigation will eventually
insure to her an equal supremacy as the emporium of railroad
intercommunication. The great lines of railway from the At-
lantic border are all pointing to this city as a common centre,
and she is sending out and receiving branches from the rich
agricultural and mineral regions of the 'Great West.'
"St. Louis, from her unrivaled facilities for trade and manu-
factures, will occupy in the Mississippi valley as decided a pre-
eminence in commercial importance as the city of New York
now commands on the Atlantic seaboard. The main current of
trade on this continent must forever set in the direction of east
and west. St. Louis is the heart of this great current, while
commanding a controlling point on the grand highway of com-
merce between the upper Mississippi and the great lakes and
the Gulf of Mexico. She is in the latitude of thirty-eight and
a half, the most beautiful climate of the temperate zone, a
her navigable waters are open to the commerce of the world
during many weeks, and not unfrequently months, while more
northern marts are bound in fetters of ice.
"To her well-known and pre-eminent advantages as the
centre of commerce for the Mississippi valley, which is forever
assured by geographical position, St. Louis is the emporium of
one of the best agricultural and mineral regions in the world,
which immediately surrounds her. Southern and Central Illi-
nois and the rich mineral region of Missouri pour their undi-
vided wealth of trade upon this city.
"There are other cities in the Mississippi valley which are
distinguished by a commanding position for extended and
lucrative commerce, and by the indomitable energy and admi-
rable enterprise of their inhabitants. St. Louis, from her cen-
tral position and extraordinary facilities of approach, is especi-
ally aided and strengthened by the prosperity of each one and
all of these cities, while imparting to them a reciprocal benefit
in the general increase of commercial facilities."
Yet, in 1881, Mr. Nimmo, of the Bureau of Statis-
tics, while fully admitting the transcendent past, pres-
ent, and future importance of the river navigation to
the trade of St. Louis, could show that the railroads,
for the time being at least, had carried off nine-tenths
of this vaunted inalienable possession, the river trade.
Note his figures: "A radical change," he remarks,
" has taken place in the conditions governing the move-
ments of commerce at St. Louis. Twenty-five years
ago that commerce was almost exclusively confined to
the Mississippi River and its tributaries, but at the
present time railroads extend from the city in all di-
rections. Each one of these railroads has become an
important avenue of commerce." In proof of this,
we find that of the total tonnage transferred during
1880 there was moved by river 1,981,385 tons;
moved by rail, 8,852,204 tons.
These facts, as Mr. Nimmo truly says, indicate that
the commerce of St. Louis has largely accommodated
itself to the facilities afforded by railroad transporta-
tion. This he shows by the following table :
TONS OF FREIGHT received at St. Louis from the north, and of freight shipped from that city to the north, by river and by
rail, from 1871 to 1880, inclusive.
CALENDAR TEAR.
RECEIVED.
SHIPPED.
TOTAL RECEIPTS AND SHIP-
MENTS.
TOTAL.
By River.
By Rail.
By River.
By Rail.
By River.
By Rail.
1871
Ton*.
236,887
242,584
281,175
231,060
198,100
224,860
136,715
174,065
221,285
226,095
Tons.
60,793
120,422
72,031
137,016
88,218
100,087
96,443
208,563
224,336
378,078
Tons.
78,967
55,235
fil,966
95,800
96,225
93,360
68,565
67,320
66,990
55,260
Tons.
14,875
23,965
18,840
20,467
26,526
35,269
46,262
59,281
65,770
102,543
Tons.
315,854
297,819
343,141
326,860
294,325
318,220
205,280
241,385
288,275
281,355
Tons.
75,668
144,387
90,871
157,483
114,744
135,356
142,705
267,844
290,106
480,621
Tons.
391,522
442,206
434,012
484,343
409,069
453,576
,",47,985
509,229
578,381
761,976
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1011
It appears that the tonnage to and from the north
by river fell from 315,854 tons in 1871 to 281,355
tons in 1880, and that the tonnage by rail increased
from 75,668 in 1871 to 480,621 tons in 1880. The
river traffic constituted about 37 per cent, of the total
northern traffic during the year 1880.
The following table illustrates the point still
further :
TONS OF FREIGHT received at St. Louis from the south, and of freight shipped from that city to the south, by river and by
rail, from 1871 to 1880, inclusive.
CALENDAR YEAR.
RECEIVED.
SHIPPED.
TOTAL RECEIPTS AND SHIP-
MENTS.
TOTAL.
By Eiver.
By Rail.
By River.
By Rail.
By River. By Rail.
i
1871
Ton*.
327,262
308,480
232,460
176,120
134,465
159,485
161,870
187,910
293,480
238,940
Ton*.
782,539
1,083,600
1,107,228
1,020,414
1,237,205
1,151,049
1,177,779
1,102,696
1,455,792
1,614,637
Ton*.
523,505
578,596
562,125
476,735
370,275
383,485
427,400
434,490
499,040
820,555
Ton*.
172,026
257,493
275,998
291,084
368,357
313,092
371,402
397,528
496,306
671,661
Ton*.
850,767
887,076
794,585
652,855
504,740
542,970
589,270
622,400
692,520
1,059,495
Ton*.
954,565
1,341,093
1,383,226
1,311,498 '
1,605,562
1,464,141
1.549,181
1,500,124
1,952,098
2,286,298
Ton*.
1,805,332
2,228,169
2,177,811
1,964,353
2,110,302
2,007,111
2,138,451
2,122,624
2,644,618
3,345,793
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
And the summary completes the illustration and emphasizes it :
ACTUAL TONNAGE OF ALL CLASSES OF FREIGHT SHIPPED FROM ST. LOUIS DURING THE YEARS 1878; 1879, AND 1880.
, SHIPPED BY RAIL.
•
1878.
1879.
1880.
Tons.
Per Cent,
of Total.
Tons.
Per Cent,
of Total.
Tons.
Per Cent,
of Total.
To the north
59,281
397,528
1,029,006
394,744
3.15
21.14
54.22
20.99
65,770
496,306
1,129,820
593,820
2.88
21.71
49.43
25.98
102,543
671,661
1,179,709
801,767
3.72
24.37
42.81
29.10
To the east
Total by rail
1,880,559
100.00
2,285,716
100.00
2,755,680
100.00
SHIPPED BY RIVER.
To the north
67,320
434,490
90,400
22,465
10.95
70.70
14.70
3.65
66,990
499,040
96,075
15,040
9.80
73.70
14.19
2.22
55,260
820,555
145,295
16,415
5.33
79.09
14.00
1.58
To the east
To the west
Total by river
614,675
100.00
677,145
100.00
1,037,525
100.00
TOTAL SHIPMENTS BY BOTH RIVER AND RAIL.
To the north
126,601
832,018
1,119,406
417,209
5.07
33.35
44.86
16.72
132,760
995,346
1,225,895
608,860
' 4.48
33.59
41.38
20.55
157,803
1,492,216
1,325,004
818,182
4.16
39.34
34.93
21.57
To the south
To the east
Total shipments
2,495,234
100.00
2,962,861
100.00
3,793,205
100.00
And yet the river is ten times more valuable and
more important to the trade of St. Louis, and especially
to the city's position as a trade centre, than it was in
1857. It is needless to pursue this branch of the
subject any further. The people of St. Louis have a
perfect confidence in their resources and in their abil-
ity to develop them. As they contend, in speaking
of their ability to utilize their stores of fuel, for ex-
ample : The output of coal in England to-day will load
a railroad train sixty miles long. The coal basins of
1012
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the British Isles, when compared to the basins of this
valley, are as one to twenty, or even fifty. The output
here daily in the coining times will be simply enormous.
The same remarks apply to the iron mountains and
iron fields, lead, zinc, and copper fields. They are as
fifty to one, compared to the mineral fields of the Brit-
ish Isles. The agricultural resources of this basin
hold the same position. The railroad system of the
British Isles has about reached its culminating point,
as have all the developments of the mineral and agri-
cultural resources of the island.
England has heretofore manufactured all the hard-
ware and heavy goods for the nations of the world.
Now, as these people will be large consumers in the
future, and the great supplies of raw material, as cot-
ton, iron, lead, zinc, copper, and other elements, are in
this basin, it does not require the vision of a prophet
to foresee that in the coming times the iron industries,
tanneries, potteries, smelting-works, and a hundred
other industries will grow up here and supply these
foreign markets, and that St. Louis will be the im-
porting, exporting, wholesale mart, general distribu-
ting point, and railroad centre of this great valley of
the Mississippi, or basin of the continent.
And they meet the suspicion of indifference and
lack of energy in this wise, to quote from a St. Louis
newspaper of the day after Christmas, 1878, —
"Are St. Louis men un progressive? Some of our contempo- |
raries out West are disposed to 'poke fun' at St. Louis because j
of the apparently unprogressive and unenterprising character of
those who are rulers in her marts of trade and banks. Well,
perhaps it is a truth that St. Louis is provokingly slow, but it
would be well to remember that St. Louis is exceedingly sure,
that she does not act for to-day only, but for all time. The
truth is St. Louis is a very solid city, that the actual financial
condition of her business men is a little too good for a very ag-
gressive campaign for traffic. We do not say that the city is
in danger of permanent injury from the too prosperous condi-
tion of her citizens engaged in the business of merchandising,
manufacturing, banking, building, and other industries. St.
Louis is a conservative city, that we readily admit, but the con-
servatism of our citizens does not lead them to neglect the great
interests which centre here, and which have thus far led to a
great and substantial development. It is true, and we readily
admit it, that the rather ultra-conservatism which prevails here
sometimes delays the consummation of designs necessary to the
continued prosperity of the city, and, to the extent of such de-
lays, retards and injures its commerce. But the good people
of St. Louis are neither blind nor destitute of ordinary intelli-
gence. They know their interests, and will be very certain to
guard them with jealous care."
We have spoken of the population of St. Louis, and
the people and natives who compose it, more than
once in the course of these volumes, but the subject
will admit of further discussion. The figures of the
census representing the city's growth have been given
above, but a word or two of explanation is needed to>
make them clear in their full exponential value. The
returns of the census of 1880 were a source of disap-
pointment approaching dismay. But this was because
the census of 1870 was a fraud and delusion. This
fact is now conceded upon all hands, and indeed has
been conclusively demonstrated. There is no reason
to doubt or question the substantial fidelity of the
census of 1880. As Mr. Charles W. Knapp says, in
the paper elsewhere quoted, —
" Look where you may for disproof of the census figures, you
will find nothing to indicate St. Louis had much more than the
350,000 the census gives it. Inquire of the postal business and
you will find that the Chicago office collected 9,000,000 pounds
of mail matter and sold $1,114,000 worth of stamps, while the
St. Louis figures were only 4,250,000 pounds of mail matter
and $600,000 worth of stamps in the year ending with June,
1880. Count the names in the Chicago directory of 1880 and
you will find 170,388, while the St. Louis directory had only
120,517. The Chicago directory contained 33.87 per cent, of
its whole population, and the St. Louis directory would indicate,
according to that percentage, a population of 355,822 for this
city. Come nearer to the present and you will find that a
school census taken in Chicago last July showed a population
of 562,693, while the directory of this year shows 192,567 names,
or 33.78 of the whole number reported by th,e school census,
while the St. Louis directory contains only 139,151 names, in-
dicating a population of 412,000 on the basis of the Chicago
percentage. Doubtless this is a larger population than Boston
can show, but it is not enough to advance St. Louis above the
fifth place, nor are there any other collateral statistics that can
be depended on which indicate that the Chicago figures are too
high or the St. Louis too low. The relative number of pupils
enrolled in the public schools of the two cities may seem to in-
dicate a small difference in population, when it is found that
the enrollment reported in Chicago in June, 1880, was 59,562, or
11.84 per cent, of its reported population, while the St. Louis
enrollment was 51,241, which, on the basis of the Chicago per-
centage, would indicate a population of 431,934 for St. Louis.
I warn you that only the most short-lived joy is to be got of
such a calculation, however, for in June, 1882, Chicago had
68,266, or 12.21 per cent, of the population reported by the
school census, while St. Louis had only 53,050, indicating only
437,820 population on the Chicago basis. It is so absurd to say
that St. Louis has only increased 5886 in the past two years
that you must see there are reasons why the school statistics
are unavailable as an index to population. I was told at the
office of the superintendent of schools that there is really no
class of statistics more inaccurate, because of the manifest care-
lessness of the principals in their preparation, while, aside from
that fact, the adequacy of the school accommodation influences
the school enrollment even more than the increase of population,
which cannot swell the school attendance if the school? are
already filled to their full capacity. It is of no avail, therefore,
to appeal to the school statistics to impeach the census, and we
must let the figures of 1880 stand."'
In spite, however, of the fact that St. Louis
falls one hundred and filly-three thousand below
Chicago in population, and still more in manufac-
tures and some branches of trade, as pork-packing
and grain shipments, St. Louis shows more wealth,
by nearly ninety millions of dollars, than the rival
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1013
city. This may be, and is in great part, from lower
assessments, but that lower assessment simply means
that people in St. Louis own their property while
Chicago is owned by money-lenders in New York, Bos-
ton, and elsewhere in the East, who have mortgages
upon all the land and improvements, railroads, mills,
stocks, and bonds in Chicago, and get their percentage
out of every man's earnings and income. St. Louis,
moreover, is a larger produce market than Chicago,
as the following table shows :
MONEY VALUE OF PRODUCE RECEIPTS, 1881.
Chicago.
Flour $4,780,285
Wheat 13,669,903
Corn 30,732,449
Oats 5,780,597
Rye 837,779
Barley 4,244,893
Cotton
Tobacco
Hay 1,000,000
Potatoes 1,900,000
St. Louis.
$9,412,800
15,230,106
10,629,655
2,527,020
469,769
2,411,723
20,000,000
3,000,000
1,600,000
1,100,000
Total $62,945,886 $66,381,073
It is the largest wheat market in the country, and
the largest flour market in the world. It is, more-
over, as already shown, the largest interior cotton
market in the country. These are consolations for
the less accelerated growth of population ; but, the
fraud of 1870 eliminated, Mr. Knapp believes St.
Louis to have grown more rapidly during the past
decade than ever before. Thus, while St. Louis in
1800 had 957 people, in 1820 only 4598, in 1830
5852, the range with Chicago from that time forward
was as follows :
1840. 1850. 1860. 1870. 1880.
St. Louis 16,469 77,860 160,773 213,301 350,522
Chicago 4,479 29,963 109,260 298,977 503,053
(The population in 1S70 is reduced 100,000 below census
figures.)
On this basis the relative percentages of growth were as fol-
lows:
Chicago. St. Louis. Difference,
18411 to 1850 569.00 373.00 196.00
1850 to I860 261.00 106.00 155.00
1860 to 1870 173.0U 32.67 140.33
1870 to 1880 68.61 66.82 1.79
1880 to 1882 11.85 18.81 6.96
In other words, it took the population of St. Louis
ten years to recover from the effects of the civil war,
during all which period Chicago was expanding and
developing with acceleration. Nevertheless, St. Louis
has entirely recovered from that period of bouleverse-
ment as respects population, and in another decade
will have completely recovered as respects industrial
growth and development of transportation facilities.
Mr. Knapp, however, who is as frank and candid
in his statements as he is keen and searching in his
analyses, warns his fellow-citizens that there are still
some hindrances to progress, which must be removed
if they desire to see the city of their hopes grow
and expand vigorously and equably. Prices are too
high, he says.
" It is the same unvarying story, from the bootblacks and
newsboys up to the merchant princes nnd millionaire bankers.
We are overloaded with high taxes, high money, high freights,
and high labor. Rents are higher, food is higher, clothing is
higher, and even fuel is higher than in either Chicago or Cin-
cinnati, and so handicapped we cannot make a fair race. I
know your eyes are tired of figures, but pardon me just onoe
more, for I think in the following table there is the suggestion
of one of the first of the dead weights we must strive to remove.
"Tax rate on $100 of assessed valuation, all taxes aggregated.
New York $2.47*
Philadelphia 1.90
St. Louis... .. 2.58"
Boston $1.51
Brooklyn 2.57$
Chicago 6.48
Cincinnati 2.22
Interest rates are too high also, he says, higher
than in any other city of the first class ; and where
interest is high, either the security is not good or
money is not plenty.
" High freights we must also make war against, and the rail-
ways be forced to remove the onerous and unjust bridge arbi-
trary charge, which, ranging from two to five cents per one
hundred pounds, adds fifty-five to one hundred and twenty-
nine miles to the actual mileage distance of St. Louis from
eastern points. It may be we shall get relief from this only
when a new bridge is built, but that may come at no distant
day, for the Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway, which
is now locating an extension line to St. Louis, has under con-
templation the construction of a bridge at Chain of Rocks, with
a view to making its terminus on this side of the river, and
billing freight to and from St. Louis, instead of East St. Louis,
as all the other roads do. There is equally as .much need for
competition on the river ,• the barge rates especially having been
maintained during the pnst summer at a mark which made the
river route steadily more expensive than the lake and canal
route from Chicago.
"I must stop here," says Mr. Knapp, in conclusion, "for,
though I have named but a few of the forces operating to
retard and limit the city's growth, these are fair examples.
Such hindering obstructions as we may not hope to remove
are, after all, of the kind that all other cities find in their way ;
and we must remember that the struggle for commercial su-
premacy is always a hot contest, in which victory belongs
where energy and enterprise are most vigorously developed,
so we need not despond because we cannot find an exclusive and
easy path to metropolitan greatness devoted to our sole use. All
progress is a battle with adverse influences, and we have the
encouragement of past successes to persevere, bearing con-
stantly in mind that the struggle will cease only when progress
ends. Let, therefore, no faint-hearted yearnings for peace and
quiet tempt us from the strife, but let us build up a sensible
self-respect, encourage reasonable and intelligent confidence in
our future, and stimulate a bold and aggressive policy, forcing
competition at every point, with a fearless determination to
grasp all that is possible. Remember that we have one great
advantage in that there is no rival market as near to St. Louis
as there is to every other leading city, — Milwaukee sitting almost
in the doorway of Chicago, and Louisville in the back yard of
Cincinnati, while New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Bal-
timore crowd under each other's noses. Chance having thus
kindly seconded the favors of nature in our geographical situa-
tion, we have a better opportunity to combat the opposing
1014
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
forces than most other cities, and it is only for us to make the
most of it, to keep a sleepless watch ahead, and attack with
united earnestness every impediment rising in the city's path."
The Growth and Population of St. Louis. —
This history of St. Louis has been written in vain if
the readers do not rise from its perusal firm in the
conviction that the population of the city is stronger
in character, energy, and social and civic virtues of
every sort than it is in numbers. This point has been
clearly and beautifully illustrated by Col. George E. 1
Leighton, in his recent annual address as president of
the Missouri Historical Society, — the address being
a plea for more earnest support for the society and
greater attention to and veneration for the memories
and records of the men who founded St. Louis. A
philosophical history of the place, he said, was needed :
"It is a work yet to do, to analyze the operating causes of
our development. How the French trading post became the
village ; why the settlement of Laclede at St. Louis was more
prosperous than that of Blanchette Chasseur at St. Charles, of ,
Beaurosier Dunegant at Florissant, or that of Delor de Tregette
at Carondelet, or that of George Morgan at New Madrid; how
the village was socially and politically affected by the succes-
sive dominion of France, Spain, and the United States, or by
the personal influence of the successive Governors of Upper
Louisiana; how the first couriers from the Eastern States, like '
Easton and Bent and Clark, weak in numbers but strong in in-
dividuality, sowed the seeds of American manners and methods,
and awakened the spirit of commercial life: how the succeed- ;
ing emigration from the States, of which Benton, Hempstead, ,
Barton, Riddick, Bates, and Charless were the representatives,
impressed its social and political character ; haw the later eini-
gration from New England, with its exalted appreciation of the
value of educational and associated benevolent work, affected
its development; how the German emigration, following the
revolutionary movement of 1848, full of grand ideas of politi-
cal and religious freedom, impressed its influence upon it; how
this city aflFected and was affected by the civil war; the history
of the development of our public works ; the effect of the in- ;
stitution of slavery on the growth and development of the city, !
and many others which might be stated, are questions for ex- !
haustive study, not to be solved by the mere compilation of
commercial and manufacturing statistics or the mere narrative
of concrete events.
" The colonists were represented by such names as the Chou- ;
teaus, Gratiots, Soulards, Valle"s, Sarpy, Chenies; later, the
Morrisons, who came from the French settlements; still later .
Irish enterprise was represented by the Mullanphys, Runkens,
Dillon, the Campbells, the Walshes, Whittaker; Scotch thrift
by McKenzie and Nicholson; German intelligence and mercan- •
tile sagacity by Palm, Kayser, Barth, Kirn, Steitz, Angelrodt,
Anheuser, Lemp ; the Southern States by Benton, Gamble, i
Geyer, Polk, Charless, the Blows, Kennetts, and Blairs, Harri- i
son, Lucas. Beverly, Allen, Hunt, McPherson, the Carrs, Von i
Phuls, Chambers, Paschal, Farrar; the Northern States by
Bent, Easton, Carr Lane, Filley, Smith, Cavender, Rhodes,
Blood, Field, Spaulding, Collier, Bridge, Dickson, Gale, Davis,
the Lindells, Ames, Thomas Allen.
" Other names will readily occur to you, and if it were proper ,
to allude to living men, the list could be indefinitely extended.
Some men count for nothing in human progress; some men
count for one, some for ten, some for one hundred. There will .
be no dissent when I say that each of those I have named, and
many others that could be named, counted for more than one
in the forces which mark the progress and development of our
commercial, industrial, and intellectual interests. Is it to be
said of us that we will allow the record made by these men to
pass into oblivion as those who knew them pass away? An
hundred men fill their places to-day, — themselves to pass, by
the same neglect, into the same oblivion. Is it of no impor-
tance to us that some permanent record should be made of their
place in our local history ? It is no record of such men that
they lived and died. Municipal history, or State history, or
national history is in its last analysis but the record of the men
who have conceived and executed projects that lift the city, or
State, or nation over the years and push it forward in the
march of civilization."
All this is profoundly true, and it is the sort of
truth which we should welcome, for it bears fruit
when we act upon it as a guiding principle. Men are
the authors of institutions, and these again reflect
men. Growth, decay, birth, death, prosperity, and
decline of cities, all are summed up in the character
and qualities of the men who inhabit countries and
the institutions they construct. St. Louis, Chicago,
New York, San Francisco, all were inhabited by other
races before the white man came to occupy them.
But scarcely a trace remains of that former inhabit-
ancy. Nature and natural forces were the same, cli-
mate and advantages of site were the same, man only
was different. We must not forget this when we
hasten to ascribe all things to nature, and are willing
to leave all things with nature.
The population of St. Louis, as has been shown
elsewhere, has always been curiously mixed. In
1800, French was the predominant, Spanish the offi-
cial language, and French was still the common
speech in 1818. In 1883, German is taught in all
the schools alongside English, and in some quarters
of the city it is the most familiar tongue and the one
heard most often.
The following are the first American censuses of
St. Louis:
1810. Third United States Census, Missouri Territory. — Dis-
trict of St. Charles, 3505; St. Louis, 5667; Ste. Genevieve,
4620; Cape Girardeau, 3888; New Madrid, 2103; Hope and
St. Francis, 188; Arkansas, 874; total in Territory, 20,845.
1815. December 9th, by John W. Thompson, Sheriff. — Town
of St. Louis, 2000 ; whole county, 7395 ; gain in two years,
1200.
1820. August 1st, United States Census.— Town, about 4000;
whole county, 9732.
White male population in Missouri as reported to
the Governor under the acts of Assembly of Jan. 18,
1814, and Feb. 1, 1817; also showing number of
votes taken for members of the State Convention from
the counties from which returns were received in
May, 1820:
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1015
COUNTIES.
Number of Free White
Mules in 1814.
J3
3
1
»-^
~°°
£
•
2
m
a
|
1
.1
+-QO
•- PH
I
K
Number of Votes for
Members of Conven-
tion in May, 18^0.
Boone 7,890
Ste. Genevieve 1,705
Washington 6236
Wayne 3,009
Cole .2 478
Cape Girardeau 6,507
Gallaway. . 4 517
Jackson 2,029
Ray 1 843
Pike 4,763
St. Louis 11,980
Soott 1,610
Lincoln 2,826
Rails 2,450
Gasconade 2,199
Lafayette 2 203
New Madrid 1,893
Clay 4376
Perry 2,743
Chariton 3,263
New Madrid
1548
2062
1701
1010
3149
1696
669
2593
2205
1245
4725
2866
3386
No return.
No return.
No return.
No return.
314
837
453
In the city of St. Louis, —
2,179
Cape Girardeau
Ste. Genevieve
1 589
Slaves, free persons of colo
In St. Louis township, out of t
r, etc 1,232
5 000
St. Charles
1664
3862
2688
1090
772
1229
628
1735
796
359
248
492
265
ic city, —
1,009
Howard
Cooper
839
Slaves, free persons of colo
In Bonhomme township, —
r etc 359
....
- • • 2,207
Pike
976
Franklin
1227
674
906
Slaves, persons of color, et(
In St. Ferdinand township, —
, 352
. 2,231
•
1529
1,024
827
919
Of the character of the immigration about this
period, the Missouri Gazette remarks under date of
Oct. 26, 1816,—
Slaves, persons of color, et
Total
3 496
o 439
11,880
i /» ii a. j
" Missouri and Illinois exhibit an interesting spectacle at this
time. A stranger to witness the scene would imagine that Vir-
ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas had made an
agreement to introduce us as soon as possible to the bosom of
the American family. Every ferry on the river is daily occu-
pied in passing families, carriages, wagons, negroes, carts, etc.
Respectable people, apparently able to purchase large tracts of
land, come on. We have millions of acres to occupy, provisions
are cheap and in abundance."
In 1819 the Irish were strong enough in St. Louis
to meet in October of that year, organize a Hibernian
or Erin Benevolent Society, and make arrangements
for celebrating the next St. Patrick's day. The or-
ganization of that society was as follows : Jeremiah
Connor, president ; Thomas Hanly, vice-president ;
Hugh Rankin, treasurer; Lawrence Ryan, secretary;
Robert H. Catherwood, Thomas English, Hugh
O'Neal, Joseph Charless, Sr., and Thomas Porsythe,
standing committee.
In 1828 there was another State census, with the
results stated below, as given in a contemporary ac-
count :
" According to the returns made to the secretary's office by the
sheriffs of the different counties, the whole number of inhabi-
tants in the State on the 1st of November amounted to one
hundred and twelve thousand four hundred and nine. Under
the next general census, even should the ratio of representation
be increased to sixty thousand, the State will then be entitled
to two representatives in Congress. AVe give below the aggre-
gate number in each county of the State :
Jefferson 2,367 Franklin 2,852
Madison 2,276 Marion 2,409
Saline 1,659 St. Francois 2,030
St. Charles 3,514 Howard 9,730
rate of growth exhibited by the above figures, said, —
"After the cession of Louisiana to the United States, that
part of the ceded territory north of the Missouri River was
designated and known as the St. Charles district. This appella-
tion it retained for several years, the body of country now the
most flourishing part of the State forming but one county.
Among the papers of the sheriff of 1805 is found a census of
the inhabitants of the county, taken in that year, from which it
appears that the total number then in that district was fifteen
hundred and sixty-four whites, fourteen slaves, and seven free
blacks. We have had the curiosity to contrast this census with
that taken in 1828, and find that the same district of country
now embraces seventeen counties, and is inhabited by a popula-
tion of near seventy thousand persons."
In 1836 the sheriff took a county census, and the
population returned was, —
St. Louis City and ] Maramec township 692
suburbs 10,486 j Carondelet township 1,854
Bonhomme township.... 2,271 St. Louis township 1,127
St. Ferdinand township 3,139 !
The preliminary report upon the census of 1840
was the following :
" GRAVOIS, ST. LODIS Co., Oct. 30, 1840.
"A. B. CHAMBERS, ESQ.:
" Dear Sir, — Agreeable to request, I herewith furnish you
with a copy of schedule of mines, agriculture, commerce, manu-
factures, etc., exhibiting a full view of the pursuits, industry,
and resources of the county of St. Louis, excluding the city
and township of St. Louis, taken by me for the United States,
as deputy, under the marshal of the Missouri district. I found
but little difficulty in exacting answers to the many inquiries
enjoined upon me by law to propound during the course of
my avocations. You may, therefore, depend upon this state-
ment being as near correct as was in my power to arrive at.
1016
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
" The population of the county, excluding the city of St. Louis
and township, is 11,380.
Value of the products of the dairy $12,283
" " " " orchard 18,465
•' home-made or family goods 13,495
produce of market gardeners 20,331
" " " nurseries and florists 2,025
LIVE-STOCK.
Number of horses and mules 3,740
" " neat cattle 13,193
" "sheep 8,478
" "swine 22,649
Estimated value of other property of all kinds $11,233
GRAIN.
Number of bushel." of wheat 58,677
' barley 1,865
' oats 91,956
rye 5,638
' buckwheat 1,908
' Indian corn 451,144
VARIOUS CROPS.
Pounds of wool 8,651
" "hops 435
" "wax 1,758
Bushels of potatoes 81,310
Tons of hay 4,147
" '• hemp and flax 9,905
Pounds of tobacco gathered. 197,045
The number of bushels of bituminous coal raised
is 233,000, capital invested $11,600
There are four tanneries, capital invested 2,500
Thirteen grist- and seven saw-mills, capital 12,050
Three distilleries.
" Respectfully,
" Your obedient servant,
" JOHN C. DENT."
These figures caused some dissatisfaction, and led
to the following in a contemporary journal :
"There are many causes that retard the growth and pros-
perity of towns and cities which might be removed by the ju-
dicious management of its citizens. One great barrier to the
rapid growth of St. Louis and many other towns is the fact
that many fine squares and lots of ground lie unimproved and
unproductive. By reason of this much of the real capital of
our citizens lies dead, and contributes nothing to the general
prosperity of the community. Within the corporate limits of
St. Louis there are unimproved lots and squares worth several
millions of dollars, and which would sell for that money.
This is so much dead capital, so far as the business of the com-
munity is concerned."
In 1845 another census was taken by the assessors
of the wards. From this census it appears that the
total number of inhabitants fell a fraction short of
thirty-six thousand, divided among the several wards
as follows :
First Ward 6,900 i Fifth Ward 6,260
Second Ward 6,566 Sixth AVard 6,200
Third Ward 4,683
Fourth Ward 5,321 ; 35,930
It was about this time that James Gordon Bennett,
in the flippant vein which he so much affected, and
which he seems to have mistaken for wit, wrote the
following sketch of his visit to St. Louis :
"ST. Louis, Nov. 20, 1846.
" St. Louis, regarded as a business place, may present in-
ducements almost unparalleled to business men. Its advantages
and its situation render it so. Planted on a rocky foundation,
the Mississippi passes by it quietly, while above and below this
strange stream cuts a channel where it pleases. It is a city
destined to command an influential place in the mercantile and
manufacturing interest, while its growing morality will give it
a high rank in the religious world. But of what a mixture is
its population composed ! And to what growth do mushrooms
attain ! I have spent much time in Gotham, in Philadelphia,
and in Washington, where this vegetable is to be found of a
pretty good quality, but I must confess, with all my Eastern
predilections, that I am forced to give this Western city the
credit of producing it in perfection. There are forty thousand
people living here, and about four-fifths of them are descend-
ants of the best families, and can trace their ancestry back to
— Adam !
"Korponay is here, endeavoring to impress the public mind
with the importance of the polka, bolero, mazourka, and other
fancy dances. And he takes wonderfully, for I am told he
had a juvenile pupil the other vening, learning the first prin-
ciples of the former, and she was only turned five-and-iorty.
Her agility was regarded as something extraordinary, even
here.
" The taste for literature is increasing vastly. The first of a
series of lectures before the Mercantile Library Association was
to be delivered a few evenings since. Present, twenty-five per-
sons. It was postponed. Two squares below some sable min-
strels were giving a concert to an audience of several hundreds
of the elite. Serenades are popular, and in Fourth Street so-
journers are greeted nightly with heavenly strains from violins
and flutes.
" On the score of economy the fathers of the city cannot be
excelled. Such a thing as lighting the streets at night, except
by the moon, is considered a work of supererogation. And
then it helps trade, for each citizen is provided with a lantern
to thread the streets when the ' moon's in her shroud.' There
was a man killed a night or two ago by falling into a quarry in
the upper end of the city. That's nothing, however: he was a
stranger, and might have made inquiry. The city authorities
are old residents, — what need have they for light? Street
crossings are too much of a novelty, and none but old persons
and crippled ones get more than ankle-deep in mud when that
commodity abounds, as it does always after a little rain.
" The summer season, as elsewhere, is the best time, fh the
surrounding country, to see and appreciate the beauties of
nature. Naturalists have a great field for research. Mos-
quitoes, ranging in size from a pin's head to a large pea, can
be taken in coveys without difficulty. Their music at night is
a most excellent imitation of the sounds produced by pumping
an accordeon without touching the keys, and if one is unpro-
vided with a bar — an article of bed-furniture indigenous to
the West — there is little work left for ' cuppers, leechers, and
bleeders' in the morning. Another of the 'beauties' is that
pendulum of nature, vibrating between heat and cold, the
ague. But, as in other cases, its familiarity has bred con-
tempt, and it is considered beneath the notice of the people.
In my travels, a short time ago, I stopped to refresh at a public-
house. The landlord was sitting over the fire with a blanket
over his shoulders. ' How are you?' ' Very well, sir.' ' Is it
sickly about here ?' 'Oh, no, nothing of the kind.' 'What ails
you ?' ' I have a touch of the ague.' ' How long have you
had it?' 'Thirteen months.' 'Can I get something to eat?'
'Not now, stranger; this is shake day, and the whole family is
taking turns.' I mounted my horse and departed."
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1017
The corporation census of 1847 was a very grati-
fying one, —
First Ward 9,970
Second Ward 7,645
Third Ward 5,744
Fourth Ward 6,354
Fifth Ward 6,667
Sixth Ward 11,453
47,833
Increase from 1845 11,903
This was a visible growth. It could be felt as well
as seen, and a journal of the day said, —
"In a city like St. Louis, where the community is composed
of the most heterogeneous materials, gathered literally from
the four quarters of the globe, it takes some little time for people
to find out ' who's who' and ' what's what.' The man born in
St. Louis, perhaps when it was a small town of a few hundred
inhabitants, now finds himself in the midst of a great city,
surrounded by thousands of strangers, and knows not whence
they came, what their character may be, or whither they are
going. And the people from other countries, other States, and
other cities, who now mostly compose this vast community, are
alike strangers to each other. It follows, therefore, as a neces-
sary consequence, that society here is somewhat mixed, that it
is in a sort of chrysalis state, that an elevated standard of
morals and customs is yet to be formed."
This shows that the great immediate increase of
population was apparent to the people themselves, and
that the ancient ease and familiar acquaintanceship
were disturbed by the great and sudden influx of
strangers and aliens. The Republican of Nov. 30,
1848, says of the enumeration of the people made
that year that, —
"according to the census recently taken by the sheriff of the
county, the total number of free white males it contains is 37,045 ;
free white females, 31,222; number of free; white persons who
have been taught to read and write, 42,469; deaf and dumb
persons, 23; blind, 18; free persons of color, — males, 382; fe-
males, 486 ; slaves, — males, 1981 ; females, 2346 ; and the grand
total is 73,364.
" The city of St. Louis contains a population of 55,952, of
whom 28,779 are free white males, and 24,490 free white
females; there are 10,435 male children under eighteen years
of age, and 10,434 females under the same age; of free negroes
there are 367 males and 472 females, and of slaves, 698 males
and 1146 females.
" Carondelet contains a population of 523, Bridgeton 405, and
Florissant 423 souls.
" The State census was taken in 1844 by the sheriff, and the
county then contained a population of 47,668 souls. Of this
number the city of St. Louis had 34,140, leaving for the re-
mainder of the county 13,^28 souls, the balance of the increase
in the four years being all in the city of St. Louis. The total
increase in the four years is 25,696, of which 21,812 is the in-
crease in the city of St. Louis.
"We observe, on a comparison of the census of 1844 with
that of 1848, that the number of free negroes has increased,
while that of the slaves has diminished. In 1844 there were
673 free negroes, while the census now completed makes the
number 868. In 1844 the number of slaves was 4512, now
there are 4327, a decrease in the slave population of nearly
200.
" There is a slight increase of population in the several
incorporated towns outside of St. Louis. In 1844 Carondelet
contained 468 souls; now it has 529."
In this year of 1848 the great German immigra-
tion began to flow into St. Louis. The revolution
begun in Paris with the dethronement of Louis
Philippe, and continued in Italy by Garibaldi, in Ger-
many by all the forces of society except the nobles,
the army, and the bureaucracy, and broken in Hun-
gary by the active interposition of Russian armies,
had failed also in Germany, but not until it had
shaken the thrones of the Hapsburgs and the Hohen-
zollerns. The revolutionists were forced to fly and
expatriate themselves ; Illinois was enriched with
men like Gustav Koerner, and St. Louis reinforced
by a Schurz and a Sigel.
The German immigration to the State began sooner
than that to the city. Flint mentions a German col-
ony to which he preached in the interior of Missouri
between 1812 and 1820. Indeed, there was a very
large plantation of Germans on the Red River, in
Arkansas, in the first half of the eighteenth century,
under the auspices of the Regent Duke of Orleans,
and the descendants of some of these must have pene-
trated into Upper Louisiana. The first vineyards at
Hermann, in Gasconade County, according to Michael
Poeschal, were begun in 1841. In 1845, fifty thou-
sand vines were planted ; in 1849 there were over
seven hundred thousand.
In St. Louis there were many intelligent and en-
terprising Germans prior to the great influx which
began in 1848. The greater part of these were in
trade, though many prosecuted intellectual pursuits
with characteristic vigor and success. Charles Mu-
egge's oil-cloth factory was started in 1841 ; Thomas
J. Meier's cotton -factory — a pioneer enterprise of
great value and importance — in 1839. But 1848 is
the year in which the tide set in. The soil and cli-
mate of Missouri suited the Germans, always inhabi-
tants of the interior ; they found themselves heartily
welcome, protected and befriended, and abundant
labor waiting for them. They did not fear the com-
petition of slavery, and the "peculiar institution"
never interfered with them, reduced the value of their
work, or traversed their opinions. The arrivals of
Germans at the port of St. Louis were :
March 18, 1848, to same day 1849 9,000
" " 1849, " " 1850 14,403
" " 1850, " " 1851 10,815
Total in three years 34,218
Of these about two-thirds found employment in St.
Louis. In 1851 this city was counted as the prin-
cipal port for the debarkation of Germans to the val-
ley of the Mississippi, great numbers coming by way
of New Orleans. It was at this time that the well-
known and most useful German Society of St. Louis
1018
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
was incorporated, its objects being to protect and de-
fend the immigrants from Germany, provide them
employment when needed, and care for the sick and
destitute. Nobly has it done its work, burying the
dead, finding homes for the orphan, and securing
medical attendance, medicine, and hospital room for
indigent invalids. The trustees named in the orig-
inal act of incorporation of this society were John
Wolff, Adolph Abeles, Thomas J. Meier, Edward
Eggers, Henry W. Gempp, Andrew Krug, Charles
Muegge, Louis Speck, and John C. Meyer ; J. Reich-
ard, secretary and agent. The Germans in St. Louis
to-day, forming a large proportion of the population,
and including many of the best and most wealthy citi-
zens, do not need an association of this sort to protect
them. They constitute a potent and fully recognized
industrial, mercantile, social, and intellectual force in
the community. They are leaders in opinion and
leaders of men. The German press of St. Louis is a
power throughout the country. It has contributed
state-. ~en, soldiers, and scholars to reinforce the
national wealth. A German of St. Louis has been
mayor of the city, another senator in Congress, am-
bassador to foreign lands, member of the cabinet,
moulder of parties, and leader of men. The St. Louis
Journal of Speculative Science, the only periodical in
the country devoted exclusively to the exploitation of
metaphysics, is a direct product of German thought
and German culture, and it is claimed that St. Louis
is the only place on this continent where the philoso-
phy and the comprehensive philosophical system of
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is read, understood,
and appreciated.
At the same time as this German immigration, St.
Louis received an accession of population from the
French West Indies, as is told in a paper read before
the Missouri Historical Society in 1878 by Mr. Col-
let, the author being Mr. Edward De Laureal. This
paper is in substance as follows :
" Guadeloupe had scarcely recovered from a terrible disaster
which had covered the entire colony with ruins.
"On Feb. 8, 1843, about ten o'clock in the morning, Pointe-
a-Pitre, the capital of the colony, was destroyed by an earth-
quake more violent than previously known. What the reeling
earth spared the fire seized upon. The number of dead crushed
beneath the ruins or calcined by the flames was so great that
there were not sufficient persons to bury them, and as a matter
of necessity the remains were transported to the open sea and
entombed in the deep.
" Their wounds scarcely healed, they began to breathe, when
of a sudden they found themselves menaced with ruin from
another cause. A political upheaving threatened to destroy in
their hands the very instruments of all prosperity.
"In the month of March, 1848, a sinister rumor spread like
a pall over the country, and caused a thrill of terror through-
out. A war-vessel appeared on the horizon. It came to an-
nounce to the country momentous news. A revolution had
broken out in France, the king, Louis Philippe, driven from his
throne, and been obliged to take refuge in England. The
people, sovereign by revolt, had proclained the republic, and
constituted a republican government in the Hotel de Ville at
Paris. The authorities of Guadeloupe, as well as those of all
the other French colonies, were enjoined for the future to obey
no other orders than such as emanated from the republic, one
and indivisible.
"These news, however we may look at them at a distance
and after a lapse of twenty-nine years, when received in the
colony were of a nature to trouble the country and to excite the
population to deplorable excesses.
"Many colonists yet living who had passed through the or-
deal of the first French republic felt the presentiment of what
was to be dreaded from another, the outcome of the barricades.
If the colony were not as completely upturned during the short
duration of the second essay at republicanism, it was not the
fault of those who made it their business to persuade the blacks
that the supreme object of liberty was not only enfranchise-
ment from all labor, but to trample in the dust that which they
had heretofore respected.
"The new agents of power in the colony, doubtless to give
proof of their zeal, casting aside every precaution so indispen-
sable nevertheless in such grave circumstances, suddenly pro-
claimed the abolition of slavery. This precipitation was most
ruinous to the country. Of a sudden the master and the slave
found themselves face to face in a position embarrassing to both
parties, impossible yet to define distinctly, and which created a
real social peril.
"After the first moments of astonishment at their new re-
spective situation there were compromises between the newly
enfranchised and the proprietors, who had at heart the con-
tinuation of work, compromises which, without satisfying the
laborers, were initiative to the ruin of the proprietors.
" In presence of this state of things, which could not last
long, in presence of the alarming rumors which night and day
kept the population on the alert, a common thought came at the
same time to the heads of families, who, without exchanging
views, felt the urgency to fly from a coming danger.
"This unanimous thought had America for its olgect. By a
singular chance St. Louis, in Missouri, was the converging
point of all projects of emigration. Consequently, in the month
of July, 1848, there were seen disembarking on the Levee of
St. Louis the first families wandering in search of a security
which their native country no longer offered them.
" Soon these families were followed by a great number of other
emigrants, so that in 1849 an agglomeration of French from
Guadeloupe formed almost a little colony. They had just rea-
son to congratulate themselves on their reception on American
soil.
"But almost immediately after their arrival the emigrants
were doomed to undergo a rude trial. The cholera, which
during the spring and the summer of 1849 desolated the city of
St. Louis, did not spare them. Their numbers were sadly
diminished.
"But this time again courage was not wanting in the colo-
nists from Guadeloupe. Then were these people, accustomed to
the elegance of luxury, the comforts of an easy life, seen to
make courageously the sacrifice of their past in burying the
souvenir in the depths of their hearts, to begin a life of fatigues,
of rude occupation to which they were far from having been
accustomed. More than one mother of a family, thrown entirely
upon her own efforts, by a prodigy of economy and courageous
patience, was enabled to bring up her family and to place her
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1019
children in a position to contract alliances with honorable fami-
lies of her adopted city.
" To-day the fusion is complete, and the descendants of the
French colonists coming from the West Indies, strangers to their
maternal tongue, no longer make use of any other language
than that of the country of which they are citizens, or are in
any respect distinguishable from those around them."
The numbers of this immigration have been left
to conjecture or the imagination. The allusion
to the cholera year of 1849, however, recalls a
period of great suffering to St. Louis, and great
afflictions, under which its people bore up as if
conscious of their destiny. The pestilence was fol-
lowed by the most destructive fire which ever raged
in St. Louis, and the press of the period, in comment-
ing upon it, said, " Emerging as we are from two
calamities which have no parallel in this country,
suffering alike in the destruction of property and the
still greater destruction of life, having lost in a single
night houses and goods enough to constitute a town
of very considerable size and commerce, and in two
months buried five or six thousand human beings,
it may be pardoned those who have so far survived
these calamities to look around and ahead at their
condition."
That condition was »not pleasant to contemplate.
Just before the outbreak of cholera a corporation
census had been taken, yielding the following statistics
of the population in February, 1849 :
Ward 1 9,972
" 2 10,193
" 3 10,233
" 4 9,221
Ward 5 10,933
" 6 12,930
Total 63,482
In 1850 the regular government census showed a
falling off of 6668, chiefly in consequence of the
epidemic. The figures are, —
" White males in St. Louis County, Missouri :
30
40
11,413
40
50
4,573
50
60
1,804
60
70
624
70
80
160
80
90
32
90
100
6
100 and upward.
2
Aee unknown...
15
35,816
Females 20,987
Total 56,803
"Suppose the number of males between twenty and twenty-
one to be equal to one-tenth of the number between twenty and
thirty, and that number will be 1718, which taken from the
whole male population over twenty-one will leave 34,088 over
twenty-one.
" Assuming that there were 34,088 over twenty-one years of
age, calculate from census returns of 1850 the number under
that age, so as to get a proportion upon which to proceed in the
calculation at this time.
"White females in St. Louis County, Mo., according to cen-
sus (U. S.) 1850 :
20 years and under 30 10,189
30 '
40
50
60
70
80
90
100 an
Age u
i it
«
a
a
ii
«
14
40
5,917
50
2,785
60
1,346
70
572
80
142
90
27 '
100
3
0
aknown...,
6
Total 20,987
"These figures include foreigners not naturalized, but as the
census referred to is that of 1850, all not naturalized at that
time have since taken out their papers."
The excess of males over females revealed the re-
cency of a large proportion of the city's population.
In spite of losses by the cholera, however, the St.
Louis press was not afraid to make comparisons, and
this is the way it was done :
Cities.
1830.
Ratio for last
1840.
1850. ton years.
Per cent.
102,193
119,461
17
46,338
115,436
149
16,469
77,860
373
21,210
43,196
104
21,115
46,601
130
New Orleans 49,826
Cincinnati 24,831
St. Louis 4,977
Louisville 10,341
Pittsburgh 12,568
"Alike ratio of increase between 1850 and 1860 as there
was between 1840 and 1850 would produce the following re-
sults in 1860 :
Ratio of increase from
Cities. 1840 to 1850. Results.
New Orleans 17 per cent. 190,769
Cincinnati 149 per cent. . 287,433
St. Louis 373 per cent. 368,271
Louisville 104 per cent. 88,119
Pittsburgh 130 per cent. 107,182
" It is hardly right to suppose that the ratio of increase will
continue as large as the cities grow in size, but it is altogether
reasonable to believe that their relative ratio will be nearly
preserved, which is sufficient to show that St. Louis is destined
to be the largest city in the valley of the Mississippi in 1860,
if she be not now, upon two years' increase.
" It is to bo remembered that in the census of 1850, St. Louis
lost souie eight or nine thousand population from the fact of
her outgrowing her chartered limits. All north of Rocky
Branch, including Bremen and Lowell additions, were left out,
and on the west all beyond Eighteenth Street and Second Ca-
rondelet Avenue, which, if included, would swell her popula-
tion more than a tenth, and also her percentage of increase.
" It is also well to remember that her census was taken the
year immediately following the two greatest calamities that ever
befell her, — the cholera and the great fire of 1849, — and before
she had time to recover from their effects.
"If her chartered limits embraced the whole city, she is now
probably the largest city in the great valley.
"This is no sudden or impulsive start in her growth, for she
held nearly the same relative position towards her sister cities
of the valley between 1830 and 1840, as the following will show :
"New Orleans increased from 1830 to 1840, 105 per cent.
Cincinnati " " " 86 per cent.
St. Louis " " " " 231 per cent.
Louisville " " " " 105 per cent.
Pittsburgh " " " " 68 per cent."
1020
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
The city census of 1851 is very interesting as show-
ing the nationality of the inhabitants and the rapid
accession of immigrants from foreign countries.
" The population of the city proper is 77,716. We now give the
divisions of that population as ascertained by the census. It
will be seen by the following summary that more than one-half
of the population is of foreign extraction :
Other Free
German.
First Ward 8,792
Second Ward 3,124
Third Ward 2,147
Fourth Ward 1,528
Fifth Ward 3,858
Sixth Ward 4,385
Irish.
English
Nations.
Negroes.
699
202
276
13
1,151
277
489
352
1,732
536
656
227
3,330
528
310
464
1,948
481
277
96
2,417
897
451
107
23,814 11,277 2,921 2,459 1,259
" The whole number of foreigners is 40,471 ; the number of free
negroes, 1259. It appears from the records of the county courts
that the whole number of free negroes licensed to remain in this
county from September, 1841, to December, 1850, amounts to
575, leaving 684 in the city and county without license and in
violation of law."
To the 77,716 people in the city proper were to be
added the residents of " Bremen" and other suburbs,
5028, making a total population for the city of 82,744,
and yielding an aggregate for city and county of 104,-
834.
Sheriff Wilmer's census, completed on Dec. 17,
1852, resulted in :
Population of the city 94,819
" " county 29,034
Total population of the city and county 123,853
White males in the city 51,251
" females " 40,791
" males in the county 14,843
" females " 11,500
Free persons of color, male and female, in the city
and county 1,341
Slaves, male and female, in the city and county... 4,069
Comparative tables showing the increase from the month of
June, 1850, when the United States census was taken :
In 1850. In 1852. Increase.
Total city population 77,465 94,819 17,354
" county " 27,369 29,034 1,665
Decrease.
Slaves in city and county. 5,914 4,069 1,845
At that time the California gold fever was raging
and diverting population from all its ancient channels,
but it did not long affect Missouri and St. Louis. In
April, 1855, the newspapers of the day reported the
subsidence of the wave and the beginning of a reac-
tion. Said they, —
"The first effect of the gold discoveries in California seven
years since was to attract a large emigration from the Western
States. For some years previously we had lost many citizens,
who thought they could see in the wilds of Oregon better oppor-
tunities to improve their condition than they could find ou our
own teeming soil. But the Oregon emigrants comprised among
their numbers a good many whose exit from among us was not
a very serious loss, thriftless men, who did well if they pro-
duced as much as they consumed, and whose reluctant labor
yielded but little for export. A large proportion of the emigra-
tion to California was of a different character. Men of sub-
stance, activity, industry, and energy, some of our best
farmers, our best mechanics, our ablest merchants, sought the
land of gold. This drain on the population of the West could
not but be seriously felt in many localities, and though many
went intending to return, and though many have since gotten
home again, it is unquestionable that the population of Missouri
did not increase so rapidly from 1848 to 1854 as it would have
done had gold never been discovered in California.
" We are happy to record, however, that this great exodus
seems to be over almost if not entirely. We hear no more the
notes of preparation for the great journey over the plains, of
caravans of hundreds and thousands leaving homes and friends
for new and untried scenes. On the contrary, we find that emi-
grants to Western Missouri and Kansas and Nebraska are
coming in, as they used to do in the days of the ' Platte Pur-
chase,' fifteen years ago, and our western borders are now fast
making up the losses incurred by the ' California fever.' "
In 1860 the Federal census was as follows for St.
Louis County :
Townships.
Bonhomme 3,131
Central 5,272
Carondelet 3,827
Marainec 2,060
St. Ferdinand 3,926
St. Louis, —
First Ward 21,750
Second Ward 13,686
Third Ward 10.185
Fourth Ward 14,616
Fifth Ward : 12,172
Sixth Ward 7,664
Seventh Ward 12,731
Eighth Ward 22,451
Ninth Ward 19,705
Tenth Ward 22,516
Eleventh Ward
Twelfth Ward....
1860.
White. Colored.
498
576
166
408
863
95
110
337
837
517
394
374
312
115
206
Total 175,692 5808
The falsification of returns in 1870 makes that
census worthless, except for classes of comparison and
ratios. Its results are given herewith :
TABLE SHOWING THE WHITE AND COLOBED POPULATION
OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY.
ST. Louis CotJNTY.
1
Colored.
Indian.
1
1
1
1
9
6 304
858
47A4
1 458
6162
803
6 017
0 'KM5
8 923
297
3 009
1 778
5387
2 853
583
2 705
3436
St Ferdinand
952
-, v.jr.
7214
St Louis
8 395
805 a
5817
3386
9 203
St. Louis.
First Ward
32,099
1,607
2
23,389
10,319
33,708
Second Ward
21,295
680
12,106
21,855
Third Ward
23 109
754
V,
13,341
10537
Fourth Ward
36 O'Vi
2 538
0
20 363
12 810
30 173
Fifth Ward
3 510
-
1 '.) 6-'4
10 loll
•JH 774
Sixth Ward
2n,4i is
1,104
16,118
(i,:i'JO
21,618
Seventh Ward
3
12,003
5,1 05
Eighth Ward
19,659
7,( 01
18,600
8,110
20,710
Ninth Ward
29 268
649
1
4
13368
9,574
Tenth Ward
19,430
1,173
12,288
8,325
20,623
Eleventh \\ard
31 885
687
V
19018
13 .102
Twelfth Ward
18 787
834
6,699
19,621
324,729
26,415
41
4
124,383351,189
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1021
TABLE SHOWING THE CENSUS OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY AND COLOR.
BORN IN UNITED STATES.
BOBN IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
STATES.
£
!S
5
I
§
4
\
"2
M
COUNTRIES.
|
P
1
0
§
a
s
•a
£
t-t
0)
1
_C
5
Alabama
- 426
246
123
625
231
56
340
6,720
2,439
1,424
278
3,706
1,882
712
1,502
2,542
746
145
554
121,931
58
1
343
955
9,250
190
6,880
2
5,878
150
150
1,439
129
578
2,235
45
660
251
559
274
1
6
11
28
205
174
32
26
9
2,010
611
"l74
27
66
8
911
12,281
1
1
3
8
38
243
362
"210
3
148
1,764
89
4
1,647
9
8
30
Africa
7
27
3
27
751
254
2 652
8
1
...
Arkansas
1
Delaware
Austria
Florida
7
British America :
Canada
New Brunswick
1,841
58
4
74
9
16
6
...
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Total British America
Central America
4
1
"i
Cuba
17
178
5,366
1
...
1
2
9
2
Denmark
Missouri
94
2,788
8
France
Germany :
5 881
New Hampshire
New Jersey
6,430
269
310
New York
Brunswick
Ohio
8 858
Oregon
4 849
9
186
482
220
24,269
1,775
Tennessee
Texas
i
3
2 566
...
...
West Virginia
Germany, not specified
2,933
District of Columbia
59,040
TERRITORIES.
Alaska
5
2
643
126
32,239
985
25
76
1
292
14
86
1
1
1,202
5
2
...
20
5
1
1
i
4
Italy
5
9
27
18
4
1
1
625
""9
Norway
Montana
Poland
Utah
Portugal
Washington
Wyomin"
At sea under United States flag
Not stated
53
2
South America
15
45
237
2
...
176,540
22,045
30
2,949
2
147
74
45
1
...
RECAPITULATION.
Total Whites 28!
' Colored 2'
i,737
',088
38
1
198,615
112,249
Wales
West Indies
At sea
Not stated
112,197
43
8
Grand total .
.. 31 f
,864 310,864
65
1022
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
The above exhibition of nationalities was thus
commented upon and analyzed by an intelligent jour-
nalist at the time the statistics were made public, —
" St. Louis is indeed a cosmopolitan city, if there is any on
earth. There is still a preponderance of about 85,000 natives
over those born in other countries, of whom, however, 22,000
are negroes; but if the children born in St. Louis of foreign
parents and who still speak foreign idioms were counted among
the foreigners, the two categories would stand in a much closer
proportion. At the time the last census was taken there were
198,615 natives and 112,249 foreigners in this city, the census-
takers having, with propriety, classed as foreigners only those
who were born abroad.
" Now, according to nativity, there are 176,570 whites and
22,045 colored Americans against 59,040 Germans, 32,239 Irish,
and 6568 English and Scotch, the balance hailing from almost all
countries on earth, even Australia, the Sandwich Islands, and
China not excluded. A glance over the statistics of our school
population proves the fallacy of these figures, so far as the ethno-
logical character of the city is concerned. Of the 24,347 pupils
enrolled in 1870 in our public schools, 10,600, or a little over two-
fifths of the whole number, were children of German parents,
while only 512, or one out of forty-eight, were born in Germany.
Doubtless, therefore, the new arrivals are mostly adults ; but
inasmuch as the 'first generation born of foreign parents in this
country retain more of the peculiarities of their ancestors than
they get from the people into which they will be fused in the
end, the ethnological character of St. Louis at present is not
exactly determined by the statics of the places of nativity.
" Considering, therefore, the above-stated school statistics,
and taking into account the fact that about twice as many of
the children in the city of German parentage attend no school
at all, or are enrolled in the various parochial schools, the
German population, according to the standard of language and
habits, amounts at least to 90,000.
'• It is evidently more difficult to find the elements for a simi-
lar calculation in regard to the immigrant Irish, English, and
Scotch population, and those smaller numbers from various
other countries. A large majority of these speak English,
which enables them to amalgamate sooner with the American
nationality. But even of these a sufficient number retain their
native peculiarities in such a degree as to warrant the belief
that, ethnologically speaking, the population of St. Louis is
very nearly equally divided between natives and foreign-
en.
" No doubt this proportion will increase somewhat in favor
of the foreign population during the next ten years, the amal-
gamating power of the native inhabitants notwithstanding.
Not only that the native population has no means to make up
for the regular influx from abroad, even if, as it is supposed, it
will be smaller than previously, but during the first generation
the foreigners increased in a larger ratio by births than the
natives.
" The increase of our population, however, has its rational
limit, and the moment the limit is approached, the ethno-
logical character of St. Louis will become more stationary
and uniform.
"After the second generation people of every extraction ac-
quire many of the physical and moral characteristics of the
predominant race. The ratio of births gets to un equilibrium ;
the large proportion of German children visiting the public
schools gives predominance to the English language; the accu-
mulation of wealth in tne hands of families of foreign extrac-
tion makes them build larger houses and in a style which is
more in harmony with the tastes and wants of the older in-
habitants.
" The increase of the colored population from about 5000,
which it was previous to the war, to upwards of 22,000 went
on without much disturbance in regard to the economical fea-
tures of our population as a whole. The growth of the city
has been so wonderful during the last ten years that this great
influx of colored people, which otherwise might have been a
source of annoyance, remained almost entirely unobserved. It
is probable that if the statistics had not authoritatively given
the number of negroes in St. Louis at 22,045, very few of our
citizens wouM have believed that more than about one-half of
that number were living among us. The cosmopolitan char-
acter of St. Louis is evidently a source of much good to the
country. It shows in a microcosmos the manner in which peo-
ple, composed of every nationality, may profit from each other'a
peculiarities, bear their idiosyncrasies, and bring them down to-
a common level upon which ay may safely stand and mutually
support themselves. People learn to respect the qualities and
honest habits of others, and to emulate each other in energy and
in their desire to promote the welfare of the whole. The natives
learn how to embellish their family life by the introduction of
fine arts, and the foreigners how to give up personal and na-
tional whims for the public good and mutual good understand-
ing."
The census of 1880 yielded the figures given below :
MINOR CIVIL DIVISIONS.
1880.
187U.
Bonhomme township, including Eirkwood
village
7 043
6 162
1,280
5,691
5 387
Central township *...
7 485
8 923
3,746
3 43ft
St. Ferdinand township, including the fol-
lowing villages:
7,923
7 214
197
817
350,518
310 864
Ward 1
17,434
" 2
13 997
" 3
14 494
" 4
24,502
" 5
19,445
" 6
9,949
" 7
13,143
" 8
6 657
" 9
10 812
" 10
26 904
" 11
5,584
" 12
28,536
" 13
8 773
' 14
20,333
' 15
13,562
< 16
11,699
' 17
17,227
' 18
24 673
' 19
7,229
" 20
12,246
" 21
4 187
' 22
3 294
' 23
< 24
12,256
' 25
1,015
' 26....
2,594
•• 27
4 824
" 28 ,
9.412
In 1876 formed as a separate municipality and increased by
parts of Carondelet and Central and all of St. Louis townships,
St. Louis Co.
1 In 1876 part to St. Louis City.
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1023
COUNTY.
Total population 31,888
NATIVITY — City.
Native. Foreign.
State Born in. White. Col'd. Country Born in.
Alabama 451 440 Africa 16
Males 16,988
Females 14,900
Arkansas 447 238 ' Asia. N. S 4
White 28,008
California 210 10
Atlantic Island 5
Colored 3,880
CITY.
Total population 350,518
Connecticut 639 6
Dakota 12 4
Austria, N. S 755
Baden 3,230 a
Bavaria 2 848 a
Delaware 129 1
Bohemia 2,456
Males 179,520
Dist. Columbia.. 291 45
Florida 64 18
British America, N. S. 76
Brunswick . 124 a
Females ... . .. . 170,998
Native 245,505
Georgia 364 250
Belgium 217
Foreign born 105,013
Central America 7
White 328,191
Illinois 13 487 448
Canada.... . 1.935 ft
Colored 22,256
Indiana 2,793 76 China 71
Indian Territory 14 9
Iowa 1,638 37
Cuba 33
Denmark 300
NATIVITY
Native.
State Born in. White. Col'd.
Arkansas 30 13
Arizona 1
California 12
Kansas 478 29
England .. 6 212 c
Kentucky 4,306 1,686
Europe, N. S 72
— County.
Foreign.
Country Born in.
Asia, N.S 2
Australia 2
Austria, N. S 19
Baden 321 a
Louisiana 1,884 1,015
France 2,138
Maine 412 5
Great Britain, N. S.... 11 o
Greece 8
Maryland 1,461 234
Massachusetts... 1,780 25
Mississippi 688 1,140
Michigan 549 21
Hamburg 170 a
Hanover 3,928 a
Hessen 1,958 a
Holland ' 588
Colorado 2
Connecticut 50
Dakota 6
Delaware 13 1
Dist. Columbia.. 15 1
i.'i, ,,.;,;>, 13 1
Bavaria 236 a
Bohemia 18
British America, N. S. 16
Belgium 27
Montana 13 3
Nebraska 103 8
Nevada 8
New Hampshire 335
New Jersey 1,046 8
New Mexico 25 3
New York 8,412 41
India 11
Italy 879
Luxemburg 60
Malta 6
Canada 111 b
Georgia 19 20
Illinois 548 8
Cuba 1
Mexico 46
Indiana 167 4
Indian Territory 3 1
Iowa 78
England 265 c
North Carolina.. 282 185
Ohio 7,152 279
Nassau 149 a
New Brunswick 39 b
France 278
Oregon 7
Newfoundland 126
Kansas 27 3
Kentucky 348 257
Hamburg 4 a
Rhode Island... 205 3
South Carolina.. 182 171
Tennessee 2,008 1,607
Norway 109
Maine 33
Hessen 212 a
Holland 49
Pacific Islands 18
Maryland 103 43
Massachusetts... 89
Hungary 8
India -3
Utah 44
Vermont 476 5
Prince Edward's Isl... 15 b
Prussia 13,612 a
Virginia 2,305 1,574
Poland 389
Washington Ter. 1
West Virginia... 160 34
Wisconsin 862 18
Russia 136
Missouri 18,110 2885
Mecklenburg 11 a
Sandwich Islands 6
Saxony 909 a
Nevada 1
Nassau 58 a
Wyoming, 9
Scotland 1,309 c
New Hampshire 13
New Jersey 48 2
New Mexico..!.... 4
New Brunswick 3 b
At sea, U. S 1
When added, items marked a
her born in German Empire.
Those marked b make 2091
America.
Those marked e make 36,31
Britain and Ireland,
Native white
Spain 58
Norway 2
Sweden 551
New York , 241 3
North Carolina.. 24 32
Ohio 313 5
Switzerland 2,385
Turkey 7
Poland 6
Wales 241 c
Pennsylvania... 325 6
Rhode Island.... 8 1
South Carolina.. 13 22
Tennessee 151 111
Texas 14 4
Russia 2
Saxony 107 a
Weimar 7 a
West Indies 71
Scotland 59 c
Sweden 28
Switzerland 181
Germany, N. S 26,643 a
Vermont 38 2
Virginia 289 260
Wales 9c
Weimar 3 a
Ireland 28,536 c
make 54,901, which is the num-
, the number born in British
9, the number born in Great
223.305
West Virginia .. 11 2
Wisconsin 38 2
West Indies 1
At sea, foreign 1
Germany, N. S 1305 a
Ireland... 992 c
When added, items marked a make 4382, which is the num-
ber born in German Empire.
Those marked b make 116, the number born in British
America.
Those marked c make 1325, the number born in Great Britain
and Ireland.
Native white ... 21423
Native colored 22,200
Foreign - 1 0S. 01 3
Total population
350.518
Increase in the Value of Real Estate. — The
history of the rapid increase of values of real estate in
St. Louis is worth writing, for two reasons. In the
first place, it is almost as full of wonders as the tale of
Native colored 3,876
Foreign 6.589
Total population. .
, 31,888
1024
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the building of Aladdin's palace, in respect to the
sudden and almost miraculously rapid advances in
values. In the second place, it helps to prove the
point we have been contending for throughout this
entire chapter, — that the people of St. Louis have
from the beginning almost been conscious of the city's
great destinies. Mrs. Hunt, the daughter of Judge
J. B. C. Lucas, was fond of telling how her father
used to point to a piece of real estate at Pittsburgh
which he could have bought for a song, and which
sold for over a million. The incident simply illus-
trates that confident belief entertained by Judge
Lucas in the future of St. Louis which kept him a
poor man all his life, and reduced him, while the
owner of millions in land, to an income of less than
two thousand dollars a year even at the day of his
death. Henry W. Williams, who knows as much,
probably, about real estate as any single person in St.
Louis, prepared a very curious paper in 1860 for Mr.
Edwards' " Great West" about " the advance of real
estate in St. Louis," an article from which we borrow
largely. Mr. Williams says, —
" The rise of real estate in St. Louis has been so
fabulous that it has become a theme of wonder and
interest. We could not make this history complete
did we not give some account of the progressions, and
to make the relation more varied, more extensive,
more authentic and interesting, we have solicited the
aid of those gentlemen that are known to the com-
munity as most conversant with all of its features, and,
without comment or alteration, we give to our readers
the communications which have been addressed to us
relative to our inquiries."
And here is one of his examples, —
"Sr. Louis, March 24, 1860.
" DEAR SIR, — In compliance with your request, I have tried
to bring to mind as far as I could the value of real estate in this
city during the past forty-two years. I have not been a specu-
lator in lands, but have bought for my own use. In the year
1822 I purchased a lot on Third Street, between Plum and
Cedar Streets, 75 feet front by 150 in depth, for the sum of $225
the lot. In the year 1846 I sold the same lot for $3000, and it is
now held at a bid of $17,000. In 1834 I bought a lot on Main
Street, between Spruce and Myrtle Streets, 40 feet front, run-
ning to the river-bank, for $350, and in 1852 I sold it, with a
two-story house on it, for $10,000. The same property is now
worth $35,000. In 1845 I bought a lot on Second Street, be-
tween Lombard and Hazel Streets, 150 feet front, running to
the river, for $800, and in 1855 I sold one-third of it for $42,-
000, and held the balance at $100,000. In 1849 I bought a
house and lot on Walnut Street, between Sixth and Seventh
Streets, for $6000. In 1856 I was offered $15,000 for it. I
have known similar sales.
"Yours truly, W. RISLEY."
Here follows another, —
"Sr. Louis GAS-LIGHT COMPANY,
"ST. Louis, Feb. 9, 1860.
"DEAR SIR, — At your request I refresh my memory to give
you, as far as I can in my opinion, the value of property in St.
Louis for some twenty-five to thirty-five years back. The first
sale which I can recollect was made by grandmother Dubruil,
of a lot on the corner of Second and Pine Streets, 70 feet front
by 150 deep, to M. Papin, for §700. This was, I think, in 1822
or 1823. My mother bought, in 1822 or 1823, a lot 70 feet front
by 150 in depth, corner of Second and Olive Streets, southwest
corner, with good stone house, log kitchen, barn, and good fences,
all for $1500. The above are now worth from $1500 to $2000
per foot.
" In 1826 my grandmother's property on Second Street, block
61, I believe between Chestnut and Pine Streets, was sold by
the administrator, 50 feet, corner Second and Chestnut, by 150,
for $10 per foot. The remainder, about 18 feet, with a first-
rate stone house and kitchen, was bought in by my mother for
benefit of estate for $3000, and sold by her to Mr. Gay in 1830
or 1831 for the same price, so that property had not risen in
that locality from 1826 to 1831. Property even in the business
parts of the city had but a nominal value till about 1832 to
1833. It may have commenced rising a little in 1831, but so
slightly that it was not noticeable, and did not really seem to
rise till 1835. From this period it went up in the business parts
of the town pretty rapidly till 1838 or 1839, the commencement
of bank disasters. From that period to 1842-43, though there
may have been no fall, there was no demand, and, to my knowl-
edge, no sales.
"In 1836 or 1837 I heard Mr. Lucas offer land about Lucas
Place for two hundred dollars an acre. He sold lots to Benoist,
Bogy, and others on Eighth Street, between Pine and Locust
Streets, for ten dollars per foot.
"After the crash of the banks, from 1837 to 1841, property
had but a nominal value; it commenced rising about 1842 or
1843, and went up gradually till 1845, from which time it im-
proved more rapidly till the great fire in 1849. From the latter
date it rose very fast to the present time, and still continues
rising, notwithstanding the cry of croakers to the contrary,
and, in my humble judgment, will continue onward till the
great valley of the Mississippi is filled up and densely popu-
lated. Country property rose but little until the building of
plank and macadamized roads, but went up magically after the
commencement of our railroads.
"To resume, in my opinion there was but an imperceptible,
if any, rise in property in the city till 1834 or 1835, when it
continued to rise slowly till the great crash in 1838 or 1839. It
went up again about 1842 or 1843, slowly till 1849, and from
that period to date very rapidly.
"Hoping the above may add a little light to your valuable
researches, I remain, dear sir, yours truly and respectfully,
"Louis A. LABAUMK."
"ST. Locis, March 9, 1860.
" DEAR SIR, — I will try to comply with your request in rela-
tion to the relative value of property in St. Louis during the
last few years.
"I will give you the facts' of a few prominent points, by
which you will be able to judge of intermediate points.
" Early in 1840 property on the corner of Fifth and Market
Streets sold for $100 per foot; the same will now readily sell
for $1000 per foot.
"In 1340 I bought lots on Olive Street, between Seventh and
Eighth Streets, at $40 per foot, which would now sell for $350
per foot. About this time I could have bought of Judge J. B.
C. Lucas property on Olive Street, between Eleventh and
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1025
Twelfth Streets, for $10 per foot, which is now worth $300 per
foot. And on the same street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Streets, $5 per foot is now worth $200 per foot.
"In 1842-43 property sold in Christy's addition, west of the
St. Louis University, between Twelfth and Sixteenth Streets
and Christy Avenue, at from $4 to $10 per foot. The same
would sell to-day for from $125 to $200 per foot.
" In 1843-44, on Franklin Avenue, and south of it, in Mills'
addition, property sold about Twenty -third Street at from §3
to $5 per foot is now worth from $50 to $75 per foot.
" In the neighborhood of the market on Seventh Street prop-
erty could have been bought in 1844 at from $10 to $20 per
foot. The same will now sell for from $250 to $300 per foot.
Looking southwardly, property sold about this time at a very
low figure, but has rapidly risen to figures quite as high as in
any other direction.
" From 1840 to 1850 the tendency was north. About 1850 a
very rapid advance took place to the south and southwest. From
about 1854 to 1860 a great rush took place to the northwest, in
the direction of fair grounds.
" North St. Louis, about Bremen, toward 1850 began to make
rapid strides.
" In 1849 Lowell was first offered. It had been bought only
one year before for about $200 per acre. In May, 1849, it sold
for from $5 to $10 per foot on Bellefontaine road. It is now
selling at from $20 to $30 per foot, or about $4000 to $5000
per acre.
" Thus if you take a stand-point about the court-house you
will find the progress resulting about the same, though some-
thing in favor of the northward. Westwardly you will find quite
an equal advance.
"In Stoddard's addition, which is only about ten years old,
property sold at from $5 to $20 per foot. It will now sell at
from $50 to $125 per foot.
" As you will observe, the wave of progress has fluctuated in
every direction, first in one and then in another, but finally it
gains an equilibrium, as things have become established.
" Thus you will see that those who invest money in St. Louis
have only to wait a little and a short time brings about vast
results. And the only way to judge .of the future is to look at
the past; according to this rule, the destiny of St. Louis is
bound to be the great central city of the United States.
"Truly yours,
"W. HALL."
" Many other instances might be cited," Mr. Wil-
liams adds, " showing an increase in the value of the
real estate of the city of from thirty to fifty per cent,
per annum ; but I have already wearied your patience,
and close, regretting that the pressure of business
has prevented my giving you a more connected and
coherent statement of my recollections."
The history of real estate movements and opera-
tions, in the early periods of the city especially, has
been given pretty fully in preceding chapters, and there
is no occasion to do more than supplement these facts
in the present chapter with illustrative cases. The
system of bringing land into market under advan-
tageous and attractive bids, matured by Chouteau and
Lucas, was speedily copied by their enterprising rivals
in business. The following is from an advertisement
of Louis Labaume's in 1812, 15th of June :
" L. Labaume, Real Estate Agent. To the Public: The sub-
scriber has laid off in town lots part of the plantation on which
he resides, situated on the banks of the Mississippi, about a mile
north of St. Louis; each square is three hundred and sixty feet
in front by three hundred feet back, being sub-divided into
six lots, each of one hundred and twenty in front by one hun-
dred and fifty in back. The streets running parallel with tho
Mississippi are sixty feet wide, and the cross streets forty-five.
One square is reserved for public use, and another for schools,
etc. He will dispose of the rest on the most reasonable terms
for cash and property, and will give some credit on giving good
security. The beauty and conveniences of the place is inferior
to none in the country. Those inclined to purchase will please
apply to L. LABATJMK.''
This is cleverly done, and proves that Mr. Labaume
was an apt pupil in the methods for disposing of real
estate at good figures. His heirs, however, will scarcely
forgive him for selling when he did. A corner lot of
that estate will now sell for three times as much as
Mr. Labaume was offered for the entire property.
Auguste Chouteau, unlike Judge Lucas, was always
ready to sell his lots in St. Louis at an advance, and
when he saw the chance to buy others. He liked to
turn over property frequently, " to realize on it" now
and then, as the phrase goes, showing that he was a
person of less faith than John B. C. Lucas, but per-
haps a more useful man to have about a growing and
ambitious town ; for, much as such places need buy-
ers, they need sellers still more, people who are willing
to let their real property change hands at reasonable
current figures, and without nursing it for their grand-
children. Chouteau built, traded, developed indus-
tries, turned his money over and over again, and waa
not afraid of taxes. For years he was the largest tax-
payer in St. Louis. Lucas, on the contrary, was always
on the lookout for cheap lots, bought to hold, and did
not improve. Cheap lots could be got without much
trouble. The Missouri Gazette, of Oct. 9, 1819,
" At the March sale of public lands in this district, one hun-
dred and seven thousand acres were disposed of at the average
price of two dollars and ninety-one cents per acre."
At this time the values of land everywhere in Mis-
souri, and not excepting St. Louis, were greatly unset-
tled by frauds and fraudulent claims and the long and
costly processes of litigation. The liberal land grants
under the Spanish regime in its last year had opened
the way to this, and the trouble was aggravated by
speculators who were seeking to locate New Madrid
lots (land granted by the United States in cases where
property was injured by the earthquakes of 1811-13)
even upon the very boundaries of St. Louis. The
landshark of that day, rapacious monster, stopped at
nothing to insure his claim. Theft, perjury, forgery,
murder, all the crimes in the statute-book were com-
1026
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
mitted to get property for nothing, and to dispossess
rightful owners ot their estates and improvements.
The simple French habit ans, the land commissioners,
and the courts were no match for these confederated
thieves, with their wholesale forgeries and their gangs
of hirelings ready to swear to anything. Bryan and
Rose, in their interesting " Pioneer Families of Mis-
souri," have preserved the affidavit of one of these
suborned perjurers, given at Kaskaskia in August,
1807:
" I, Simon Toiton, being in my sober senses, having taken no
drink, and after mature deliberation, having been apprised
that I had given a great number of depositions relating to land
titles, as well those derived from donations as from improve-
ments ; that by means of these depositions great quantities of
land have been confirmed to different persons in whose favor I
have given these depositions, I do consequently declare, as I
have already declared to several persons, that I am ignorant
of the number I may have given, since I was drunk when I
gave them, a failing to which I am unfortunately addicted ;
and that when I am in that state any one, by complying
with my demands, may do what they please with me. If this
work had been proposed to me when in my senses [hiatus in
manutcripi]. I declare that I recollect that on the last day of
November, 1806, I was sent for. Before setting out I drank a
quart of liquor; and that there might be no want of it, I took
it again on my arrival ; before beginning the certificates I took
another quart, and this continued until midnight nearly. I
recollect at that time to have given twenty-two or twenty-three
depositions ; that is to say, I copied them from models, to which
I made them conform, observing to these persons that what I
did could have no validity. They told me not to -mind that,
that it would be of service to those for whom I made them, and
that I ought not to fear anything or make myself uneasy. I
declare solemnly that all these last depositions are false, as well
as those I had given previously to that time, no matter in whose
favor I may have given them; because, to my knowledge, I
have never given any except when I was in liquor, and not in
my sober .senses. I furthermore declare that I am not acquainted
with any improvements in this country."
It was by this sort of fraud and villany that land
titles were confused in Missouri, and many honest and
deserving proprietors swindled out of their property.
Here is an instance in point :
" In the year 178ft the government of Spain granted to An-
gelica Chauvin a concession of forty by forty arpens of land
near the then post of St. Louis, bounded by land granted to one
Louis Robert on one side, and the king's domain lengthwise
the river Des Peres. The concession was sold by the grantee
to Jean F. Perry, a meritorious citizen. "The government of
the United States came, under treaty obligations to the Spanish
government, to respect all concessions of land similar to the one
to Madame Chauvin, and to fully and faithfully discharge that
obligation Congress in 1805 created a board of commissioners
charged with that duty. This board of commissioners was com-
posed of eminent men of the highest integrity, but they were by
law restricted to the consideration only of concessions accom-
panied by specific and authentic plats showing the corners and
locations of grants presented for confirmation.
"In the year 1811 the board met and confirmed to Jean F.
Perry, assignee of Angelica Chauvin, forly by forty arpens of
land, the concession being first presented and then the plat, and
ordered the same surveyed according to possession (the pos-
session of the grantee). In the year 1812, being one year after
the confirmation of the claim, Perry died, leaving four orphan
children, all girls ; and in the language of Mr. Griswold, ' here
the monster slept !' Yes, slept for twenty years, until the chil-
dren grew up to be women and were married. During this
lapse of time the cormorants were busy with their New Madrid
' floats,' and before the children grew to be women had succeeded
in spreading them all over their land, although that land never
belonged to the United States."
This piece of property was so long in dispute that
immense values and interests became involved in its
settlement ; the interposition of Congress was sought,
and finally the claimants were thrown out in favor of
the possessors. This instance is not adduced by way
of pointing an injustice or a grievance, — we have
nothing to do with the merits of any particular claim,
— but to show how delays and litigation affected the
titles and values of property. No one buys a lawsuit
if he can help it, and when he does buy one he always
insists upon its cost being counted in the bill. It is
beyond a doubt that disputed and defective titles had
a very depressing effect on the values of real estate in
St. Louis for many years, and interfered materially
with the extent and rapidity of transfers.1
1 It is only proper to give the other side of this Chauvin
claim, — the side of the occupants whom it was sought to oust.
The following statement of the case was published in 1853 :
"A grant was made to Madame Chauvin in May, 1784, of
sixteen hundred arpens of land, about six miles west of St.
Louis, on both sides of the River des Peres, or, in the words of
the grant, 'said river running through it from north to south,
to be improved within a year and a day.' In June, 1785, her
grant was canceled for non user, and the land specifically
granted to one Tayon. Tayon went to St. Charles, and Gov-
ernor Trudeau granted to Madame Papin three thousand two
hundred arpens, including the above sixteen hundred arpens.
Tayon came back, told the Governor his grant had been invaded,
but as he did not wish to disturb the occupant, would be satis-
fied with a floating right for the sixteen hundred arpens; he
got this, and sold it to Mr. Chouteau, the brother of Mrs. Papin,
and this float was afterwards located.
" J. F. Perry bought of Mrs. Chauvin, in Illinois, her right,
and presented it to the old board of commissioners for confirma-
tion. They rejected the claim. Subsequently it was presented
again and confirmed, ' to be surveyed conformably to possession,
and at the expense of the claimant.' This was in 1811; the
survey was made and approved in 1832, and the very place of
Madame Chauvin's possession pointed out to the surveyor and
marked on the plat, and this survey took the eastern half of the
Papin tract, showing that Tayon knew what he stated when he
got his float. But the Papin survey was before this, confirmed
earlier, and hence the Chauvin survey could not hold, although
Gen. Ashley, then in Congress, tried to get it patented.
" It has slept since, sometimes in the hands of Elliott Lee,
Jesse G. Lindell, Daniel D. Page, and others, until it turns up
to belong to Joshua R. Stanford, of Illinois, who appointed
A. II. Evans his agent to locate the claim.
" This ingenious man fixes his corner for the sixteen hundred
arpens of land on the River des Peres, and there turns the
claim upon it- <i. /•/-•, and rolls it round ao that its southeast
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1027
The holder of a New Madrid certificate having
got an act of Congress passed authorizing him to locate
it, actually attempted for that purpose to take posses-
sion under this warrant of Duncan's Island and the
water-front of St. Louis. Much of the city prop-
erty and school property was squatted upon in the
same way, with a network of claims and a regiment
of claimants, so that in most cases, after years of
costly litigation and delay, the authorities found it
cheaper to compromise than to make good their com-
plete title. The schools in this way, as fully described
elsewhere, lost a great amount of valuable property.
Another thing which had an injurious effect on the
value of property was the unsettled condition of the
city's estate in the commons and common fields. It
would be mere repetition to state here what has been
so fully set forth in other chapters about these tracts
of land and the disposition made of them. But the
fact that the city held all this land, and would of
course some day sell it, put St. Louis in the position
of a powerful and favored competitor with every
dealer in real estate in the community. The city
could sell on terms which no ordinary operator was
able to offer. It could hold on as long as it pleased,
sell all or as much as it pleased, give what times of
payment it pleased, in short, could bull or bear the
market at its option. No operator in real estate was
either able or willing to lock horns with such a gigan-
tic and powerful opponent, and as long as the city held
the commons it had the speculation in real property
at its mercy.
corner shall settle in the Chouteau mill tract, just across the
Widow Camp's lot, and then run off north and west for quan-
tity, running over the Grand Prairie common field lots to
a little north of the St. Charles road, and going west from
about the Prairie House so as to overlay John Lay, and just
escape the Cftte Brilliant* tract, and so avoid the place where
Tayon said the land was, and where Jean F. Perry had it sur-
veyed.
" This claim has been rejected in every court where they have
tried to introduce it, rejected by the surveyor-general here,
rejected by the commissioner of the general land office at
Washington, and is now tried to be pressed upon the Secretary
of the Interior by the employment of Col. Benton as its advo-
cate. . Col. Benton is the member of Congress from this district,
and we should like to know how much he is to receive for the
effort to divest hundreds of owners of lands in the Grand
Prairie.
" Mr. Geyer, in the performance of his duties as a lawyer, we
have understood, was offered one-half of this claim if he would
make it stick anywhere save where Perry had located it, but
he could not do it. The influence of Col. Benton, representa-
tive in Congress from this district, is invoked in the hope of
getting a different decision from that which has been rendered
by the courts and the commissioner of the general land office '
in the case. We shall see how it work? upon the secretary of [
the interior."
The commons embraced under various surveys
about three thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven
acres of land, lying (as described in 1859)
" south and southwest of the city, and embraces such locali-
ties as the House of Refuge, the Lafayette Park, etc., but a
more accurate recital of its boundary lines may not be without
interest. The southeastern boundary, then, begins on the river-
bank, about a half-mile below the 'Sugar Lonf,' or, to be more
precise, at a point three to four hundred feet below the residence
of Charles L. Tucker, Esq. ; thence it follows the river-bank to
a point nearly opposite the Workhouse; thence, leaving the
river, and being bounded on the east by lands of Messrs. Kay-
ser, Kennett, and others, it proceeds northerly into the present
First Ward of the city, following a straight line, through the
property of Thomas Allen, Esq., Henry G. Soulard, Esq., and
others, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, to its intersection
with Hickory Street ; thence westwardly along Hickory Street
to a point between Morton Street and St. Ange Avenue, about
opposite the terminus of Fourteenth Street ; thence northwardly
again to Chouteau Avenue; thence westwardly with Chouteau
Avenue to its intersection with Grand Avenue; thence with
Grand Avenue southwardly to the Stringtown road, and with
the Stringtown road southwardly again to the vicinity of tracts
held by Messrs. Chartrand and Delore, a little below the house
formerly kept by Peter Delore; and thence finally in an east-
erly direction to the point of beginning on the river. These
limits, it will be perceived, embrace many of the most elevated
plateaus, and withal one of the most charming districts in the
suburbs of the city proper."
The common fields are described at the same date :
"There were a number of these common fields about St.
Louis, — the Prairie des Noyer fields in the south, beginning at
or near the present Grand Avenue, running westwardly for
depth, and (by way of some sort of definite location) intersect-
ing what are now the suburban grounds of Henry Shaw, Esq. ;
the Cul de Sac common fields, a little north of Prairie des
Noyer, and embracing and extending north and south of the
grounds of John S. McCune, Esq., Dr. Barret, the Rock Spring
Cemetery, etc. ; then the St. Louis common fields, beginning
eastwardly at Third Street, and extending from say the St.
Charles roaS to a distance below Olive Street; and finally the
Grand Prairie fields still farther west."
Successive acts of Congress of June 13, 1812, and
May, 1824, and of the Missouri Assembly in March,
1835, authorized their sale, with reservations for
schools. It was put to vote at the latter date whether
the commons should be sold, and whether a half,
fourth, or tenth of the proceeds should go to schools.
The ballot decided in favor of sale, and of appropri-
ating one-tenth to the school fund.
The act provided a sub-division of the common into
parcels of not less than one nor more than forty acres,
besides which the buyers of common lots were not to
pay the amounts which they had bid on the respective
lots, but to pay an interest or rent of five per cent, a
year on the amount of purchase-money for the period
of ten years, after which, on paying the full amount
bid, the purchasers were to receive their deeds.
Buyers who preferred it were permitted to continue
1028
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the payment of such rent for the space of fifty years,
after which, and every fifty years thereafter, their lots
would be revalued, and a rent of five per centum per
annum paid on these revaluations. It will be con-
ceded that the terms of payment under this rule were
liberal and accommodating enough to the speculators
in common grounds. Accordingly, under these terms,
the common was advertised for sale in 1836, and very
nearly all, if not quite all, the lots sold. It appears ;
that the affair went off spiritedly, and the prices ranged
from fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre,
the average being about one hundred dollars. On
reflection, the buyers, with few exceptions, seemed to
unite in the opinion that these prices were excessive,
and that their common purchases were a common
grand " take in." From the date of sale the Board
of Aldermen was flooded with the petitions of the
buyers for release from their purchases, and for a
long while, and until the city had again secured the
title to nearly the entire common, the authorities
were engaged in forfeiting these first sales of 1836.
The question of selling the common was then
allowed to sleep until about 1842, when only a few of
the forfeited lots were resold. In 1854 the City
Council, under further authority of the Legislature,
passed another ordinance making new and different
arrangements for the sale of the common. The ordi-
nance appointed a " Board of City Common," with
authority to sub-divide the common into lots twenty-
five feet front by one hundred and twenty-five feet
deep ; to intersect it with streets and avenues of no
less width than sixty feet, and alleys of twenty feet,
and with power to sell from time to time at auction
sale, on terms of one-sixth cash and the remainder in
equal annual installments of one, two, three", four, and
five years, the interest on the deferred payments to be
six per centum per annum. Under this ordinance
five sales took place, the first being in June, 1854,
and the last in July, 1859. The amounts realized in
these sales sum up as follows :
First sale, June, 1854, aggregate proceeds, $210,000
Second " Oct. 1854, " " 160,000
Third " May, 1855, " " 145,000
Fourth " Oct. 1856, " " 100,000
Fifth " July, 1858, " " 55,000
making a total of $670,000. Of this amount one- J
tenth, or 867,000, was paid to the public schools, who
in some instances took land instead of money, and
from what remained, 8453,000 went to the sinking
fund, and $150,000 to the purchase or the improve-
ment of public parks; this disposition of the pro-
ceeds being directed by the ordinance which authorized
the sales. To show how " circumstances alter cases,"
and how opinions and values change with time, in
these latter sales of 1854, 1856, and 1858 there were
sums paid for the purchase of single lots 25 feet front
by 125 feet in depth which at the first sale of 1836
would have purchased twenty-seven and a half acres,
or more than one acre to every foot front. Or, to
change the comparison, if the sum of $1375 invested
in 1856 for a single lot of 25 feet front had been
judiciously invested at the sale of 1836, as it might
have been in numerous parts of the common, it would
in 1859 have been worth to the party investing
from $144,000 to $150,000, but it was the good for-
tune of the city, and the evil fortune of the buyers,
that, as stated above, the original sales were nearly all
forfeited.
The last sale took place Oct. 4, 1859, and a con-
temporary report of it said that, —
" The sale of common lots by the city, effected by Messrs.
Papin & Brother last Tuesday, was a complete success. The
lots advertised were all, or nearly all, sold, and the prices real-
ized were satisfactory. Lots on Maramec Street, opposite Mr.
John Withnell's, brought from $14 to $21 per foot, averaging
over $17 per foot. On Kansas, Michigan, and other avenues
which intersect block 80 the average was about $10 per foot.
Block 80 itself realized about $48,000. Afterwards on Caron-
delet road the lots brought from $12 to $16.50 per foot, on
Michigan Avenue $8 to 815 per foot, and on the various other
thoroughfares from $5 to $16 per foot. In all 306 lots were
sold. The attendance was large, numbering from 250 to 300
bidders. The sale was prolonged until eight o'clock in the
night, at which hour three lots were sold on Lafayette Avenue,
opposite Chris. Stechlin's brewery, for $77.50 per foot. The
aggregate amount of sales was 7684 feet front, producing
$80,601."
It was after these sales had gotten under way that
real estate values in St. Louis began to "jump." as
will be seen by the following table :
ASSESSED VALUE OF BEAL ESTATE IN ST. LOUIS.
For the year 1842 $12,101,018
1850 29,676,649
1852 38,281,668
1853 39,3(.tr,isr>
1854 41.104,921
1855 42,456,757
1856 60,689,625
1857 73,662.043
1858 82,160,449
1859 92,340,870
^Ye do not, however, by any means wish to imply
that the real estate interest was stagnant previous to
this. On the contrary, there had been, as has already
been shown, a steady and rapid rise in values all along.
It has been satisfactory as regards St. Louis ; it
would be enormous in respect to any other commu-
nity, Chicago excepted. A few salient facts culled
from various sources will illustrate this.
Augustin Langlois conveyed to Albert Tison, Nov.
29, 1804, in the Carondelet portion of St. Louis, two
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1029
hundred arpens, "just as it is from top to bottom,"
for fifty-five dollars.
The first recorded conveyance of a lot within the
limits of the old French village of St. Louis under the
jurisdiction of the United States government was on
Jan. 15, 1805, when Francis Liberge, Jr., sold to
Dominick Huge a lot two hundred and forty feet front
on Second Street, between Market and Chestnut
Streets, and one hundred and fifty feet deep westward.
The price for this piece was stated in the deed to be
four hundred dollars.
A tract of fifteen or sixteen acres a little northwest
of the old City Hotel, corner of Third and Vine
Streets, was bought at an early day by a Mr. Earl, of
Baltimore, for one hundred and fifty dollars. He did
not consider it worth the taxes, and let it go.
In 1805, Joseph Lacroix sold to Louis Lemonde,
for forty dollars, forty arpens, or nearly thirty-five
acres, situated in the vicinity of the present Lindell
and Laclede Hotels.
The first acquirement of the well-known Lucas
estate was recorded on Dec. 14, 1807. The deed
shows that Pre. Duchouquette sold " to John B. C.
Lucas, first judge of the Territory of Louisiana, resid-
ing in this town of St. Louis, a house built of logs
stuck into ground, a barn built of cedar wood, the
house being underwalled and covered with shingles,
the whole lying and being situated on two sites of the
ordinary size and dimensions in this town." The
deed further recites the location, which was on the
north side of Chestnut Street, from Second to Third
Street. The sale was " in consideration of six hun-
dred dollars' worth of peltry, that is to say, two pounds
and a half of shaved deerskin and marketable per dol-
lar." Judge Lucas paid one-third of the six hundred
dollars in cash, and gave a note for the balance. Judge
Lucas died in 1843, owning, according to inventory
in the Probate Court, $5*7,688 of personal estate, five
lots in the old town of St. Louis, all that portion of
the then city from Fourth to Eighth Street, between
Walnut and Market, fifty acres from Eleventh to
Seventeenth Street, between Market and St. Charles
Streets, and four hundred and eighty-eight acres in
other parts of St. Louis County. The assessed value
of the entire real estate in 1842 was $136,890 for city
and $150,000 for country property.
The first assessment of property for taxation in the
town of St. Louis of which there is any record was
in 1811. The total assessed value of real and per-
sonal property was $134,516; the rate of taxation
was one-half of one per cent., and the amount of
taxes paid was $672.58. The heaviest tax-payer
within the town was Auguste Chouteau, and his
property was valued at $15,664. This Chouteau also
owned about $61,000 worth of property in the county
outside of the then town, but which in latter years
became a part of the present city. Other large prop-
i erty-owners of that time, whose estates were not then
in the city, but subsequently added, were Judge J. B.
C. Lucas, valued at $10,555 ; John O'Fallon, $2450 ;
William Clark, $19,930; William Christy, $16,000;
and Henry Von Phul, $8175.
In 1816 a lot sixty-five feet front on Main Street,
between Locust and Vine, and running through to
Second Street, was bought for $1200. In December,
1850, a little more than one-third of the same lot sold
for $56,000. Prior to this time it had yielded an im-
mense rent for many years.
In other parts of the town of St. Louis at that time
(1816) property was sold at merely a nominal figure,
by the arpent or lot. There was scarcely any en-
hancement in the value of property from that time
until the years 1829 and 1830.
In the year 1829 we find that a lot on the corner
of Morgan and Fifth was sold for three dollars and
fifty cents per foot. In the year 1832 property on
the corner of Fifth and Cerre Streets was sold for
two dollars and fifty cents per foot. In the same year
ninety-five feet on the northeast corner of Seventh and
Spruce Streets was sold for one dollar and eighty
cents per foot. It was worth from three hundred to
four hundred dollars per foot in 1859. In the same
year (1832) property on the corner of Fifth and Gra-
tiot Streets was sold for two dollars per foot.
In the year 1835 property on the corner of Wash
and Sixth Streets was sold for the sum of seven dol-
lars and fifty cents per foot. In the same year a lot
at the corner of Hickory and Seventh Streets was sold
for one dollar per foot, and the whole of block 157
was sold for the sum of three hundred dollars. In
the same year the lot on Broadway opposite Franklin
Avenue, upon which Wimer's new building is now
situated, was sold for ten dollars per foot.
In the year 1836 property on Seventh Street, be-
tween Wash and Carr, was sold for six dollars per
foot.
In the same year, property on Green Street, be-
tween Tenth and Eleventh, sold for three dollars per
foot; on Eleventh, between Green and Morgan Streets,
for three dollars per foot ; on Austin Street, between
Twelfth and Fourteenth, for about sixty cents average
per foot ; on Market Street, between Third and Fourth
Streets, at twenty dollars per foot; and on the corner
of Clark Avenue and Seventh Street, for six dollars
per foot.
In 1837 property on Twelfth Street, between
1030
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Brooklyn and Howard Streets, was sold for five dol-
lars per foot.
In 1841, at the northwest corner of Broadway and
Jefferson Streets, at eight dollars per foot.
In the same year, on the corner of Chambers and
Ninth Streets, for five dollars per foot.
Property on Olive Street, in the vicinity of Twelfth
and Thirteenth Streets, sold as late as 1844 for from
twelve to thirteen dollars per foot.
Take Stoddard's addition, for instance, which was
sold in the fall of 1851. Property on the corner of
Locust and Beaumont Streets was then sold for fifteen
dollars per foot; on the corner of Washington Av-
enue and Garrison Avenue for five dollars and sev-
enty-four cents per foot ; on the corner of Franklin
Avenue and Ewing Avenue for fifteen dollars per foot ;
on the corner of Lucas Avenue and Ewing Avenue
for ten dollars ; on the corner of Lucas and Leffing-
well Avenues for the same price, and at the same ratio
throughout the whole addition.
Eight years later this property was held at sixty
to one hundred dollars per foot. On Chouteau Av-
enue land worth twenty dollars in 1851 was held at
above one hundred and fifty dollars in 1859. It was
noted this latter year that there was a regular and
systematic ratio of property value enhancement, and
the reason assigned for this — undoubtedly the true
reason, too — was that, unlike many cities, St. Louis
had not grown to her proud position in a day or a
year. Nor will she, like many of them, cease to en-
large and prosper at the option of speculators. Man-
ufactories and business of every kind and character
have steadily increased and kept pace with this im-
mense enhancement in the value of property. Build-
ings have been constantly going up, yet not fast
enough to accommodate the immense emigration con-
stantly swelling the population. In fact, the city has
never been so prosperous, and the future is even more
promising than the past has been satisfactory. There
is to-day more foreign capital in the city and State
seeking investment in real estate, business, and manu-
factories than there has ever been in any previous
three years together. There is a larger margin for
speculation in real property in St. Louis than there
has ever been.
Real estate is enhancing in value more and more
rapidly every year, and it must continue to do so until
the vast territory stretching as far west as the Rocky
Mountains shall be densely populated and pours its
immense harvests annually into our markets. It is
true that it requires more money to invest largely than
it did a few years ago, but the profits are greater in
proportion to the investment than they ever were.
There is not a single city in the Union where rents
yield such a percentage on the value of the property,
and yet any number of houses in any locality could
readily be rented, if they were finished, at the same
profits.
Continuing these illustrations, we find it noted that
" when Mr. Cozens made the survey, property on Lin-
dell Avenue, west of Grand, could have been bought
at from three to five dollars per front foot ; it is now
worth in many places one hundred and fifty dollars.
He has seen property on Fifth Street sell for two dol-
lars and fifty cents and three dollars per foot, — two
hundred and two hundred and fifty dollars a lot were
high prices ; now the same property is valued at over
fifteen hundred dollars per front foot. In the early
'40's Henry Chouteau sold at auction two hundred
feet front on Seventh Street, corner of Spruce, at fifty
cents per front foot. In Stoddard's addition, along in
the middle '50's, property sold at six and twelve dol-
lars per front foot ; to-day the same property is worth
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars.
Mr. Cozens laid out in 1861-62 the Camp Jackson
tract, which took in from Garrison Avenue, or Thir-
tieth Street to King's Highway, south of Olive,
through which Pine and Chestnut Streets were pro-
jected. At the first sale, about 1863, property in that
tract brought from ten to fifteen dollars per front foot ;
to-day it is worth from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred dollars.
" In 1841, with Mr. Brown, Mr. Cozens laid out
William Christy's western addition, from Fourteenth
Street west to Jefferson Avenue, and between St.
Charles Street and Cass Avenue ; John Mullanphy's
estate, north of Cass Avenue, from Broadway west to
Jefferson Avenue ; a sub-division for L. A. Benoist,
W. G. and G. W. Ewing, on the south side of Cass
and east of Jefferson Avenue, property in which sold
for from one to five dollars per front foot."
Here follow some newspaper clippings :
1843. — "The value of the real and personal property ju the
city of St. Louis reported by the late assessment is $11,721,-
425.91. The reports from the treasurer say it will be necessary
to levy a tax of one per cent, on the assessment to meet the de-
mands of the current year."
1844.— "The total value of the taxable property of this city
as assessed during the present year, and just approved by the
board of aldermen, is $14,843,700. Last year the assessed
value was about $1 1,000,000.
'• It will be seen by an advertisement in this paper that Mr.
Lucas designs to offer at public sale a large number of his lots,
situated in the rear of the Planters' House, and in what must
be the most fashionable and agreeable part of the city. The
location is between Market and Olive Streets, and extending
from Thirteenth to Sixteenth Streets."
1845. — " Add the three districts together, and the total num-
ber of houses erected in 1844 in the corporate limits of St. Louis
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1031
may be set down at eleven hundred and forty-six. Of these
many were churches, public edifices, and costly private resi-
dences. But great as the improvement was in 1844, unless
some very unexpected reverse comes upon us, the amount to
be expended in building in 1845 will quite equal it.
"Mr. Lucas intends, we understand, this season to make an
improvement which will add greatly to the value of the prop-
erty in that quarter, and increase the population west of the
proposed improvement.
"We understand that he will open Twelfth Street, one hun-
dred and forty or sixty feet wide, from Market to St. Charles
Street, the breadth of five blocks. Fifty feet or so in the centre
of the street will be reserved for a market-house which he will
erect this season at his own cost, leaving a wide street on each
Bide of the market."
1849. — '' The assessment of the real estate in the city of St.
Louis for the year 1849, as appears from the assessor's books, is
as follows :
Old Limits.
Total.
First Ward
Second Ward
Third Ward
Fourth Ward....
Fifth Ward
Sixth Ward ...
New Limits.
$404,024.61 $2,651,677.96 $3,065,702.57 j
2,729,208.92 660,539.47 3,389,948.39
2,063,716.70
1,516,578.44
2,075,483.15
6,995,988.62
4,726,991.43
4,035,483.83
1,192.470.69
323,388.66
6,790,708.13
5,552,062.27
3,267,953.84
7,319,377.28
$13,421,568.14 $15,963,984.34 $29,385,552.48
lNr>0. — "We have said that we reckon the buildings erected
this year by the thousand. By reference to the published tables
it will be seen that their number reaches two thousand four
hundred and fifty. The money expended on their construction
amounts to the sum of £7,173,155."
1851. — "Large Sale of Land. — The large sale of land which'
has been going on for two days past in the ' Union Addition' to
St. Louis, or ' Capitol Hill,' was closed yesterday. One hundred
and sixty lots were sold, and the aggregate of the sales is
$88,063.44. This addition is situated near the new reservoir of
the city water-works, in the most elevated part of the city, and
full two miles from the court-house.
"The Stoddard sale, conducted by Leffingwell & Elliott, was
closed yesterday, the gross amount being $701,676. The whole
tract is now disposed of, and we learn that many persons who
had gone to the ground to bid failed to secure any lots. So
great an amount of property has never been offered or sold in
this city at one time, and the aggregate returns of purchasers
evince the confidence of strangers as well as our own citizens
in the stability and prospects of our city."
1855. — "The sale of the Centre Market property, owned by
the city, took place yesterda}*, and was attended by a great
number of persons. The whole property produced over
$174,000."
It was about this period that the citizens of St.
Louis began to turn their attention to suburban prop-
erties and the construction of suburban villas and
cottages. The country in the vicinity of the city
has long been noted for its beauty and its adaptedness
to the elegant ease of country-seats owned by the
wealthy and the luxurious.
The whole territory environing St. Louis is very
elevated, undulating gently and gracefully, in such
manner that there is no road leading from the city
which docs not for many miles reveal an innumerable
succession of beautiful building eminences. The
valleys which intervene, the vigorous and stately oak
groves decking the hill-tops occasionally or lining
the margin of chance brooks, the rich rolling
meadows, the extensive and trim gardens, atoning
by their careful cultivation and their freshness for
the disorder of the gardener's hut attached to them,
with here and there at rare intervals the elegant
cottage and finely-embellished grounds of some
wealthy merchant from the city, — all combine to
make a picturesque and attractive landscape. An
afternoon ride over the Bellefontaine road, the Caron-
deletroad, the Manchester road, or over Grand Avenue
sustains the assumption that there is no city of the
West, at any rate, whose suburbs reveal greater nat-
ural beauties than those of St. Louis.
But until the periods referred to, these beauties had
been lost upon the wealthy, since they had developed no
fondness for suburban or country life. Now, however,
this began, and elegant mansions and villas began to
spring up about Compton Hill, Cote Brilliante, and
the Carondelet road, and later along the railroads
leading into the city.
About this time, also, the people began to take
note of the pace at which real estate values were
being accelerated, and to look upon holdings of city
lots as about as rapid a means of getting rich as any
one need employ. They recalled, for example, that
"in the year 1840, St. Louis, although a place of importance,
evinced nothing foreshadowing her present prosperity. Manu-
factories of all kinds were few, her mercantile operations limited,
and real estate was held at merely a nominal figure. She was,
in fact, dependent entirely upon other places for almost every
article for home consumption. In 1836, only four years pre-
vious to the time of which we speak, property was offered on
the corner of Eighth and Pine Streets for ten dollars per foot,
and could not be sold from the fact that every one regarded the
price as enormously fictitious. The whole western part of the
city, say from Eighth Street westwardly, was then a common,
and few imagined that it would ever be used for anything else.
In 1839 the eastern half of the block where the Planters' House
is now was sold for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars per
foot. Every one regarded the purchaser as 'done for' in that
speculation. The property would to-day (the year 1859) sell
for fifteen hundred dollars per foot. The best property on
Main Street would not sell for more than three hundred dollars
prior to the great fire of 1849.
"In the years 1839 and 1840 property on Lucas Place could
not have been sold for three dollars per foot, and a sale was ef-
fected by Messrs. Belt A Priest a few days since at the round
sum of two hundred and fifty-one dollars per foot. But we are
asked the question, How do you account for this rapid enhance-
ment in the value of real estate ? Is it permanent, and will not
this state of things terminate in total bankruptcy if it continues ?
They who propound such questions know little of the illimit-
able and inexhaustible resources of our great city. St. Louis,
although in its infancy, possesses the power of a giant. The
history of the world fails to present a single example of a city
growing to such greatness when fostered by its commercial posi-
tion alone. It cannot be claimed that the country back of St.
1032
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Louis has aided her much, for by far the greatest portion of it
is an unbroken wilderness.
"The maximum value of real estate in St. Louis has not been
attained. There is to-day a larger margin for speculation and
an inevitable certainty of a more rapid increase than there was
ten or twenty years ago. We are gratified that Eastern capi-
talists have become awake to this fact, and are investing largely
in real estate in our city. We invite more capital ; there is room
for immense amounts to be lucratively invested. We invite emi-
gration ; we invite labor. Come one, come all, there is bread
and work for us all."
And all this is just as true of 1883 as it was of
1859. The maximum value of real estate in St. Louis
is still to be attained, and the increase to-day is more
rapid than it was twenty-five years ago.
The civil war set things back a whole lustrum, but
did not destroy nor even injure the roots of progress
and development. These, indeed, seemed to strengthen
and pierce deeper and take firmer grip of the soil
during the period when they were prevented from
sending shoots upwards. By 1870 all activities had
been resumed, as the following record of building in
that year shows :
Brick.
Frame.
Stone.
Iron.
Total.
January ...
February-
March
April
$170,700
495,900
565,000
604,775
46,496
401,175
727,330
346,434
408,250
521,400
217,625
130,000
$1,200
5,500
2,700
10,600
13,500
"2,250
100
850
1,200
625
$171,900
501,400
657,700
665,375
59,996
456,175
729,580
346,534
417,100
523,600
228,350
130,000
$90,000
$50,000
June
55,000
July
August
September.
October
November.
December..
8,000
1,000
10,000
Total $4,636,085
$38,525
$133,000
$90,000
$4,887,710
The total number of building permits granted during the
year was 1228. From this amount there should be deducted
200 for small additions not properly classed as buildings. This
leases 1028 buildings. To this add 500 buildings erected aside
from permits granted, and also including cases where permits
cover more than one building, and there is an approximate
number of buildings erected during the year of 1528. The
total estimated building outlay was equivalent to $5,687,710,
expended in buildings during the year.
Operations so extensive and so costly as this re-
quired, of course, great economy in the regulation of
expenditures and the selection of materials. Fortu-
nately, St. Louis is very rich in cheap and handsome
building materials of every sort. Nowhere can better
lime, sand, and bricks be found, taken right out of the
soil on which the city is built. As early as 1839,
Samuel Head began to quarry and manufacture marble
from a quarry under the city, as is recounted in the
following letter from Mr. Garesche :
"On my arrival in this city, I was struck with the marble
appearance of the stone, but was unable to procure a person
who understoq^ polishing it; in the mean time, Mr. Samuel
Head, a young man lately come to this place, whose business it
was, worked this stone, and demonstrated to the inhabitants of
St. Louis how useless it was to send to the eastward for mantel-
pieces or other marble monuments when they were treading
over a soil so rich in that species of mineral. This marble vies
with the most beautiful for the fineness of its polish, nor are its
variegated accidents or color inferior to any. It contains abun-
dance of calcareous spar, and some, probably, oxide of iron, which
shows itself in scarlet spots of the most gaudy hue. This ledge,
about four feet in thickness, stands between two strata of lime-
stone. The undermost has been used to this day as a fine build-
ing material. It is that of which our curbstones are made and
our streets are macadamized. It receives also a very fine polish ;
it is then of a cream color, with light gray veins. Under this
stratum is one of silex. Mr. Head has also discovered in the
same quarry another kind of marble of a nankeen hue, with
black veins running through, pretty much in imitation of scales
of a fish. The last specimen has, however, been found in but
small detached pieces. There is scarcely any doubt when the
subject is further investigated but what some new discoveries
will be made. The banks of the river for some considerable
distance appear to be of the same nature, and must contain the
same or some other mineral wealth, which may become a source
of profitable exportation to the community at large.''
St. Louis possesses the advantage of being built in
a location and upon ground where the best of bricks
are easily attainable at low prices. It is worthy of
note that the appearance presented by the walls of the
many thousands of fine residences and business houses
attracts the attention of every visitor to the city. To
build up a city like St. Louis, almost entirely of brick,
requires a large supply of suitable clay for their man-
ufacture, but, as great as the draft has been, the supply
is as yet comparatively untouched, and as demands are
made and investigations prosecuted, the quality in-
creases in value and importance, and foreign markets,
that but a few years ago furnished clay for crucibles
used in smelting furnaces, fire-brick, etc., now use
that of St. Louis for their supplies, thereby acknowl-
edging the superiority of the clay found in St. Louis
over that of other sections. So important is this
branch of trade becoming, that several firms make
this traffic an especial business, and are almost daily
filling orders for Cincinnati, Louisville, Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and other large man-
ufacturing cities in our own country, while orders have
also come from Stourbridge, England, from whence
clay used to be shipped to different cities of this
country.
The manufacture of brick enters very largely into
the active use of capital, and, like every other branch
of industrial manufacture, has undergone many
changes and has been attended with many improve-
ments within the period of time that has passed
since the St. Louis trading-post began to give way be-
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1033
fore the march of progress, and the manufacturers of
the rude pieces of tempered earthen mortar they called
brick — some of which may still be seen in some of
the pioneer brick houses of St. Louis — would look
with wonder upon the almost scientific nicety and
difference in shape of the brick now made as com-
pared with those they fashioned, if it were possible
for them to be raised from their sleep of death and
shown through some of the St. Louis brick-yards.
But, notwithstanding the many different kinds of
brick-making machines that have been invented, the
old hand process seems to be regarded with a very
great degree of partiality, as affording a better and
more perfect brick for building purposes than any
machine ever yet introduced, although some of the
machines turn out an excellent quality. With ma-
chinery, brick can be made much faster than by hand,
but it is maintained by many builders and owners of
houses that the rapidity with which they are made
renders it impossible for them to be made perfect and
solid in every respect, and particularly so with those
made from dry clay. A smooth, even surface and solid
formation are the qualities requisite to a good brick,
and in many localities clay from which such bricks
can be made is scarcely attainable. Its absence ac-
counts for the rough, cracked, and almost shale-like
appearance of many of the walls of brick houses to be
seen in many sections of the country.
In some places it is impossible to find a clay that
will not crack either in sun-drying or burning, how-
ever well-tempered the mortar may have been, and
instances have been known where kilns, in which a
hundred thousand had been set, would not turn out
more than twenty-five to fifty thousand merchantable
brick. In such cases heavy pecuniary loss was un-
avoidable, and hence the importance to brick-moulders
of finding clay that would withstand the action of the
sun when turned out in the yard to dry, or of the fire
while kiln-burning. In the earlier times slop brick
— that is, brick made by rolling the mortar in water
and casting it in wet moulds — were more generally
made than any other kind, but the difficulty of obtaining
a smooth surface, a very desirable consideration, was a
great objection to that style of brick, and it gradually
gave way to other methods, as did also the old way of
preparing the mortar by tramping it with horses, oxen,
or even, in some instances, by men and horses. But
these methods of brick-making gave way to sand
brick. These are made by rolling the mortar in
sand on the moulding-table and casting it into
moulds, which are also well sanded by being dipped
in a box of sand by the off-bearers after every turn-
ing out on the yard. It is very justly maintained that
this process secures more smoothly-surfaced, nicely-
cornered, and more solid brick than those moulded
in slop or water, and that it also secures a brighter,
better color in burning. This process of brick-mould-
ing is universally followed by the different hand brick-
yards of St. Louis.
White Brick. — A great part of this brick formerly
used was brought from other sections, Milwau-
kee, Wis., being the most noted place of the man-
ufacture of that variety. Within the last twenty
years, however, it has been satisfactorily settled that
in St. Louis there is even a better quality of clay for
their manufacture than that used at Milwaukee, and
their manufacture has begun on a large scale. The
bed of clay from which they are made is supposed to
be inexhaustible.
This clay burns to a beautiful white, producing a
brick every way equal to, and in certain respects su-
perior to, those made at Milwaukee. Their color
when properly made is lighter and more uniform,
while the shrinkage is uniform, far more so than in
the Milwaukee brick. From tests made by the engi-
neers of the water-works and others, their tenacity
is shown to be equal to any in government reports,
sustaining flatways two thousand pounds on supports
six inches apart with a fulcrum in the centre. Their
manufacture was attempted before the late war, and
about one hundred thousand made and burnt, but on
account of the war the enterprise was abandoned
until 1867. Pressed white brick, it is said, are
much less expensive than stone fronts and look
nearly as well, and it is therefore a source of con-
gratulation that they are manufactured in St. Louis
instead of imported from Milwaukee.
Fire-Clay. — The increase in the establishment of
furnaces requiring the use of fire-brick, crucibles,
retorts, etc., has necessarily increased the demand
for these articles. In the earlier periods of the
manufacturing interests of our country, clay for the
manufacture of crucibles, retorts, etc., as well as some
of the manufactured articles, were brought from
Stourbridge, England, and Germany. The cost of
either the clay or the manufactured article was a
matter of no little moment, and hence the discovery
of fire-clay in this country became a matter of con-
gratulation to manufacturers, and as investigations
and discoveries have been extended, beds of the
purest and best of this material have been found,
and now, instead of importing it either from Ger-
many or England, it is exported* from America to all
the manufacturing points of Europe; but while it is
found in many sections of our country, none rank
higher among manufacturers than that found at
1034
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Cheltenham and vicinity, four miles from St. Louis.
The properties of the best pot- and fire-clay consists
of the following percentage of component parts :
Silica 64.05
Alumina 23.15
Oxide of iron 1.85
Carbonate of magnesia 95
Water... .. 10.00
100.00
An analysis of the Stourbridge clay (for a long
period of years regarded as the most nearly perfect of
any offered to the trade), made by Willis (see Watt's
Diet. Chem., Eng. Ed., vol. ii. p. 653), showed the
following proportion of ingredients :
Silica 67.34
Alumina 21.01
Oxide of iron 2.03
Alkalies 1.38
Water 8.24
100.00
An analysis of the Cheltenham clay, by Profes- |
sor A. Litton, shows that it is much nearer a perfect
article, taking the analysis of the best pot-clay, as
submitted by Richardson, as authority, than that I
known as Homer's best pot-clay from Stourbridge, j
England. The analysis of both the crude and washed
clay is as follows :
Crude Clay.
Silica 61.02
Alumina 25.64
Oxide of iron 1.70
Lime 70
Magnesia .08
Potassa .48
Soda 25
Sulphur 45
Water 9.68
100.00
W linked Clay.
Silica 59.60
Alumina 26.41
Oxide of iron 1.61
1.00
07
29
16
, 38
Water 10.48
Lime
Magnesia
Potassa...
Soda
Sulphur
100.00
Of the exact date of the finding of the clay at Chel-
tenham we are not fully advised, but Paul M. Gratiot
engaged in the manufacture of fire-brick in a small
way as early as 1837-38. His works were situated
on what is now known as the Glassby heirs' farm, on j
King's Highway, and near the residence of Hon. John \
S. McClure. Since then, however, the discovery of j
immense beds of the^clay have been made, and several
large fire-brick manufactories erected, employing a
large capital and several hundred mechanics, laborers,
etc.
No substance has ever been found anywhere that
approaches the Cheltenham clay. This clay on being
first brought to the surface and exposed to the light
has an appearance similar to that of stone, but after
being exposed to the weather for a few days it disin-
tegrates and falls to pieces. One-third of the mate-
rial thus unearthed is preserved from exposure to the
weather, and this portion of it is burned or calcined,
this process being necessary to the proper working up
of the material. After being burned it is passed
through a process of grinding or reduction from its
large lumps to a certain degree of pulverization neces-
sary to the manufacture of fire-brick or whatever else
may be intended, and from the Iron Age we extract
the following description of the process to which the
clay is submitted. This description relates to other
works, but embraces the same principles and ma-
chinery as that used in St. Louis. It says, —
" Much care has to be exerdised in the selection of the clay
and its combinations in proper proportions. The brick are to
resist the intense heat of the puddling furnace, the iron cupola,
the locomotive and boiler grate, as well as the continuous heat
in other places where the action of fire is to be resisted. The
brick made directly from the clay is found to be too solid and
too liable to fracture from the heat. To remedy this and secure
a porous article the pure and best fire-clays are calcined, then
it is taken and crushed by means of large iron rollers. By this
process it is reduced to a mass of small particles ready for mix-
ing with the pure clays. When the proper ingredients are thus
combined, the mixture is put into a large box or vat and let
soak about a day. Then it goes through the pug-mill, by which
it is ground fine. It is then ready to be modeled into any of
the required shapes, and they are legion. After this has been
done the bricks are placed on the drying floor, where they
remain from six to ten hours. They are then pressed, to give
them their regular shape. After pressing they are again placed
upon a drying floor, where they remain until dry enough to be
set in the kilns for burning. The brick from the modelers will
have to be handled five times before they are ready for use.
The two defects that have heretofore existed in pressing blocks
flatwise and by hand are said to be, 1st, the blocks were not
pressed hard enough; 2d, they came out of the mould of an un-
even thickness. To remedy these evils machinery has been in-
vented within a few years for pressing the blocks edgewise, so
that they come out fully pressed and with a perfect uniform
thickness. This make of blocks, therefore, has the advantngo
that they require no chipping or dressing in laying them up.
This saves a great amount of labor in lining or relining furnaces.
It also makes a much better job than when laid with uneven
blocks.
"Next comes the baking process. Here the round kilns are
used, which is the form preferred by the English and other
foreign makers. These improved, circular, high-coned kilns
are fired with anthracite coal, and have a large number of fire-
chambers around, and the heat is drawn to the centre of the
kiln. This arrangement makes the heat equal throughout the
whole kiln, burning top and bottom brick alike. Between the
fire-chambers and the bricks, after they are set in the kiln, are
protection-walls that prevent the heat from striking them,
carry it up to the top of the kiln, and then down through its
centre, enabling it to escape through a flue or pipe leading
SAINT LOUIS AS A CENTRE OF TRADE.
1035
from the bottom underground to the smokestack of the manu-
facturing machinery. It makes heat fast and very intense,
burning all the brick thoroughly and equally. Thirty-six
hours of full heat are generally required to burn the brick,
and about twenty-four hours are required to attain this heat.
The time required for cooling, of course, varies with the
season.
" A large number of the fire-bricks manufactured here are
sent to the manufacturing establishments of the Lake Superior
regions, while a great many are shipped to the South, and almost
all other points where manufactories requiring intense heating
apparatuses are established; and so superior are the manufac-
tures of the St. Louis and Cheltenham works that wherever
they have been introduced they have been awarded the pre-
mium, both as to the quality of the clay and superiority of
manufacture. The clay is becoming an article of commerce in
itself, and is sought after from the various manufacturing cities
of our own country, while some orders have come from Europe.
One or two firms exist in this city that engage exclusively in
its traffic. It is usually put up in barrels, and is worth in this
market sixteen dollars per ton. Fire-bricks made at the Chel-
tenham and Oak Hill Works have been submitted to the severest
tests known to the business, and pronounced by experienced
men to be of the very best quality. For retorts and crucibles,
and everything else designed to be exposed to the action of a
great heat, the fire-clay found in St. Louis County is unsur-
passed, and is a source of wealth little dreamed of by the pio-
neer settlers of this part of the Mississippi valley. As yet it is
not fully developed or worked to any extent by other than the
establishments already named ; but it is not saying too much
to predict that the time is not far in the future when the estab-
lishments to be built up here to shape and convert into articles
of usefulness will be equal to those of any part of the Old
World, to which America looked for many years for her supply
of clay for crucibles, retorts, etc., and thus add millions of
money to our home capital, and increase our population by
thousands."
According to the tax assessor's report for 1882, the
valuation of the real estate in the city of St. Louis is
us follows : In the old limits, or within the limits
before 1877, there are 63,652 lots, valued at $143,-
585,820, and 1417 acres, valued at $3,440,270 ; total,
$147,026,090. In the area between the old and
present limits there are 18,367 lots, valued at $7,233,-
670, and 19,056 acres, valued at $7,917,850 ; total,
$15,151,520. The grand total for the entire city for
the 82,019 lots and 20,473 acres is $162,177,610.
St. Louis now has about one-third of its area cov-
ered with building and park improvements. There
are about three hundred and thirty miles of improved
streets, two hundred and fifteen miles of public and
district sewers, two hundred and thirty miles of water-
pipe, eighteen street railroads, having nearly one hun-
dred and thirty miles of route through the city, and
sixteen steam railroads centering at Union Depot.
- The United States government now owns property
in real estate and buildings in St. Louis to the value
of $5,787,800, and the St. Louis school board owns
property valued at $2,382,342. The valuation of
property owned by private schools and convents is
$1,418,465, and by church corporations, $3,610,586.
The total amount of real estate exempt from taxation
in the city is about $35,000,000.
The increase in the assessed value of real estate
in St. Louis in 1882 was about fifteen per cent, as
to the entire city. In the central part of the city
twenty and twenty-five per cent, increase was made,
while in the suburban sections five to ten per cent,
additional value was placed on real estate. But few
owners made petitions appealing from these additional
valuations.
Below are given samples of the assessments on
Washington Avenue and Olive Street for the past
two years, from which some idea may be obtained of
the increased values.
Washington Avenue.
Between Fourth and Fifth Streets:
Ames' estate, 90 feet front, valued at $187,500 in 1881, and
$190,000 in 1882.
William G. Clark, owner, 112 feet front; increased from
$155,750 to $174,500.
Mercantile Block, 18 feet front; increased from $17,720 to
$26,520.
Between Fifth and Sixth Streets :
Mary F. Barrett, 71 feet front ; increased from $82,140 to
$94,860.
John H. Beach, 23 feet front; from $20,570 to $23,180.
Alford Bradford, 70 feet ; increased from $94,800 to $105,-
800.
Charles Bradford, 30 feet; from $43,200 to $48,200.
State Savings Association, 27 feet ; from $19,280 to $21,000.
Between Sixth and Seventh Streets:
Ames' estate, 90 feet; from $87,200 to $100,000.
New Lindell Hotel Company, 182 feet; from $474,150 to
$587,000.
Between Seventh and Eighth Streets :
Gerard B. Allen, 235 feet; from $94,580 to $138,080.
George W. Bull, 22 feet; from $17,930 to $22,240.
Between Eighth and Ninth Streets :
First Methodist Church, 94 feet; from $35,880 to $38,000.
Between Ninth and Tenth Streets:
Esther Collins, 24 feet; from $32,330 to $37,500.
Olive Street.
Between Fourth and Fifth Streets :
Third National Bank, 37 feet; from $97,000 to $103,750.
Between Sixth and Seventh Streets :
Provident Savings-Bank, 25 feet; from $39,500 to $44,500.
John B. Sarpy, 50 feet; from $46,330 to $52,900.
Between Sixth and Seventh Streets :
Alice Bacon, 25 feet; from $13,870 to $15,200.
Between Seventh and Eighth Streets :
T. Benoist, 44 feet; from $33,040 to $40,000.
Between Eighth and Ninth Streets:
Laura A. Blossom, 25 feet ; from $12,290 to $15,450.
Odd-Fellows' Hall Association, 127 f«et; from $54,000 to
$60,000.
Between Ninth and Tenth Streets :
Gerard B. Allen, 100 feet; from $70,500 to $92,500.
Pelagie Berthold, 50 feet; from $23,500 to $26,500.
Between Tenth and Eleventh Streets:
Mary A. Calhoun, 24 feet; from $8250 to $12,250.
1036
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets :
Daniel Catlin, 24 feet ; from $8720 to $9720.
Nathan Cole, 29 feet; from $11,410 to $12,800.
John Byrne, Jr., the pioneer, perhaps, in what has
grown to be the colossal real estate business of St.
Louis, was born in New York City, Aug. 3, 1805.
His parents were John Byrne and Margaret O'Don-
nell, both natives of County Donegal, Ireland. Little
is recorded of his boyhood, except that he was edu-
cated at Georgetown, D. C., leaving school in 1819 and
removing with his parents to Mobile, Ala., where,
although a mere boy, he was immediately associated
with his father in mercantile pursuits, for which he
early exhibited a special aptitude.
On the 5th of March, 1832, he was married to Sarah
M. Fitzimmons, a native of Asheville, N. C., and of
Irish parentage. This union has proved a long and
happy one, and on the 5th of March, 1882, the cou-
ple had the pleasure of celebrating their golden wed-
ding, amid the congratulations of a large company of
their friends in St. Louis.
The ruin wrought by the panic of 1837 compelled
Mr. Byrne to seek a new location. Accordingly he
removed to St. Louis, where he established a modest
dry goods house on Market Street. Few of those
then engaged in business in St. Louis are now living,
but one of the few is Eugene Kelly, who kept a store
within a few doors of his, and who is now a wealthy
banker of New York.
In 1840, Mr. Byrne opened a real estate office in a
little building on Chestnut Street, near Fourth.
Although the honor has been claimed for others, he
was perhaps the pioneer in this business, and H. W.
Leffingwell appears to have been the next person to
engage in this as yet untried field.
Mr. Byrne's industry and fidelity to the interests of
his patrons were speedily recognized, and he soon had
the satisfaction of seeing his business established on
a substantial basis. Its increase has been singularly
uniform, a result due perhaps to his conservatism,
which prevented his engaging in the wild speculations
that proved so ruinous to others in the real estate
trade. This caution begot confidence in him and
gained him custom, and some of the largest estates in
St. Louis have passed through his hands. It is now
forty-two years since the business was inaugurated,
and the generous competence which Mr. Byrne is
now enjoying in the evening of his days is the fitting
reward for years of watchful and incessant indus-
try.
Although not a politician, Mr. Byrne has not de-
clined to serve the public when called upon. At one
time he was a member of the Board of Education,
serving with Chancellor Eliot, and proved himself a
progressive friend of the public school system.
He is a devoted member of the Catholic Church,
and was one of the founders of the St. Vincent de
Paul Association. When he arrived in St. Louis he
says the population was only eighteen thousand. The
court-house was the only public building, and that
was unfinished. The only Catholic Churches were
the cathedral and the chapel of the St. Louis Uni-
versity, and the only two Catholic institutions were
the St. Louis University, under Father Ellet, and the
Convent of the Sacred Heart.
Mr. Byrne was a director in the Central Savings-
Bank, and when it failed he lost his investments and
the deposits of his house. He is now a director in
the Safe Deposit Company.
Mr. Byrne has had two children. Mary Elizabeth
was born in New York in 1833, and in 1856 was
married in St. Louis to Dr. F. L. Haydel, of St.
James Parish, La. Dr. Haydel has been associated
with his father-in-law for many years as superintend-
ent of his business.
The fate of James Fitzsimmons Byrne was a tragic
one. He was born in St. Louis, May 27, 1842 ; at-
tended school at Antwerp, Belgium, for four years,
and on June 8, 1864, was drowned in the Rhine at
Bonn, Prussia. He was a young man of exceptional
promise, and his sudden death fell with crushing
weight upon his parents.
Although now considerably beyond the Scriptural
limit of " threescore years and ten," Mr. Byrne has
not until lately exhibited any marked decay of body
or mind. He appears occasionally at his business,
and attends to many details, and still manifests con-
siderable interest in affairs. Of a retiring nature, he
has always shunned publicity, and would prefer, if
judged at all, to be judged by his deeds. According
to such a standard, there are few of the business men
of St. Louis who have accomplished more, not merely
in winning success in business, but in demonstrating
the fact that enduring success is the natural result of
patient, painstaking, and unostentatious labor.
Marcus A. Wolff, another prominent real estate
i agent, was born in Louisville, Ky., May 14, 1831.
1 His father was born in London, England, of Polish
'• parents, and came to this country when only nineteen
years old. He was a mechanic in moderate circum-
stances. Eventually he married Miss Susan Frank-
lin, of Kentucky. The elder Wolff was a man of
sound common sense, and, so far as he was able, gave
his son a good common-school education. When the
boy was only ten years of age, however, necessity
compelled him to leave school, in order to contribute
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1037
to his own support and to that of the other and
younger members of the family.
Hoping to better his condition, his father removed
to St. Louis, and Marcus found employment as a
newsboy and in various capacities in the newspaper
offices. The papers of the city then were the Mis-
souri Republican, the Evening Gazette, the Missou-
rian, and the Reveille. For several years he was a
carrier on the Evening Gazette and the Reveille, and
in 1847 he went on the Republican, working at the
press and carrying papers. The chief incidents of the
latter engagement were the fire that destroyed the
office of the paper and the cholera epidemic of 1849.
While the malady was raging young Wolff gave a
signal display of energy : three of the carriers of the
paper were stricken down, and he insisted upon deliv-
ering the papers on their routes in addition to his
own, and for some time did the work of four men,
beginning at one o'clock A.M. and walking continu-
ously until noon. Such service won the gratitude
and respect of his employers and the admiration of his
acquaintances. In this eminently practical school Mr.
Wolff completed his business education.
In December, 1852, he married Miss Eliza J. Curtis,
of St. Louis, and about the same time obtained a po-
sition as teller and clerk in a private banking-house,
in which position he soon acquired the reputation of
being the best judge of bank-notes in the city, a dis-
tinction to be proud of, for in those days there were
about twelve hundred banks throughout the country
issuing notes of differing denomination. By judicious
investment of his savings he was enabled in 1859 to
establish himself in business as junior member of the
real estate firm of Porter & Wolff. The house soon
became known as one of the most successful in St.
Louis. In 1868, Mr. Porter retired, and Mr. Wolff \
continued the business, having purchased his partner's
interest. In 1872 the firm of M. A. Wolff & Co.
was established. Under Mr. Wolff's energetic man-
agement the business grew rapidly, and has long been
perhaps the largest and most prosperous of its kind
in St. Louis.
Pre-eminently a business man, Mr. Wolff has never
held office, although a stanch Democrat, and often
solicited to allow his name to be used. But recogniz-
ing the fact that his own prosperity depended on that
of the city, he has always taken a deep interest in
whatever promised to advance her progress. He was
one of the original stockholders in the Boatmen's
Savings Institution, and holds or has held an interest
(mostly as director) in the following institutions:
Second National Bank, East St. Louis Elevator Com-
pany, Hope Mutual Insurance Company, St. Louis
66
Distillery Company, Rapid Transit Company, South
St. Louis Street Railroad Company, and Real Estate
Exchange. Generally, it may be said that no legiti-
mate enterprise promising the advancement of the
city and State has yet been inaugurated in which he
has not manifested a deep interes't.
Mr. Wolff is of a social nature, and is a Mason,
Knight Templar, Knight of St. Patrick, and a mem-
ber of the St. Louis Legion of Honor and other so-
cieties. Throughout his life he has been industrious,
prudent, and saving, and as a consequence has amassed
a handsome competency. His residence at Cote Bril-
liante is one of the most attractive in the city.
Still in the prime of life, Mr. Wolff has lost none of
the spirit and dash that characterized his early career,
and appears good for many years to come.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
As the commercial metropolis of the Mississippi
valley, St. Louis lays under contribution not only the
great Mississippi River, but. all the numerous streams
which swell this mighty current. Situated twenty
miles below the mouth of the Missouri and one hun-
dred and seventy-four miles above the mouth of the
Ohio, St. Louis holds, as has been frequently pointed
out in this work, the key to the industrial develop-
ment of that vast and fertile region which is drained
by the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the
numerous smaller rivers, and her commercial existence
is indissolubly linked to that of the great valley.
" Many years ago the late Governor Clark and my-
self," says Hon. Thomas H. Benton,1 " undertook to
calculate the extent of beatable water in the valley of
the Mississippi ; we made it about fifty thousand
miles ! of which thirty thousand were computed to
unite above St. Louis, and twenty thousand below.
Of course, we counted all the infant streams on which
a flat, a keel, or a bateau could be floated, and justly ;
for every tributary of the humblest beatable character
helps to swell not only the volume of the central
waters, but the commerce upon them. Of this im-
mense extent of river navigation, all combined in one
system of waters, St. Louis is the centre and the
entrepot, presenting even now, in its infancy, an
astonishing and almost incredible amount of com-
merce, destined to increase forever." The Missis-
1 Letter to the St. Louis delegation to the Chicago Convention,
dated June 20, 1847.
1038
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
sippi, the conduit of them all to the ocean, must
ever remain the central figure in the group. Rising
in Lake Itasca, about three thousand two hundred
miles from the Gulf of Mexico, near the " divide"
which turns the water-fall of that country into the
Red River of the North, it flows for over one thou-
sand miles through a rich and abundant land, until
its waters are broken by the Falls of St. Anthony,
near which the thriving cities of Minneapolis and St.
Paul are located. The river at these falls is eighteen
hundred feet wide, and its waters are precipitated over
a ledge of limestone rock seventeen feet in height,
forming a dam, the water of which supplies power to
many manufacturing establishments in Minneapolis,
the chief of which is that of flour. For continuing
the improvement of these falls, twenty-five thousand
dollars was appropriated by the River and Harbor
Act of 1882. St. Paul, near these falls, is seven hun-
dred and ninety-eight miles from St. Louis, and is the
head of steamboat communication with St. Louis,
though the river is navigable far above the falls.
Not the least of the remarkable features of the
Mississippi River are the physical characteristics
which it has stamped upon the delta which it has
created and through which it flows. The scientists
who have made a study of this river regard the
delta of the Mississippi as beginning near the village
of Commerce, about twenty-eight miles above the
mouth of the Ohio, where the rock in situ is first en-
countered on both sides of its channel, and supposed
to underlie its bed. If that be assumed as a fact, it
involves the further assumption that at some remote
period there existed a cataract or rapids of far greater
descent than that at Niagara somewhere above the
mouth of the Ohio River. The elevation of the low-
water surface of the Mississippi about Cape Girardeau
is two hundred and eighty five feet above the level of
the ocean, and if ever the level of the sea extended
up to that point, the Mississippi must then and there
have precipitated its waters over a ledge two hundred
and eighty-five feet high. If we imagine a great
plane, extending from the mouth of the Ohio, six
hundred miles in length and thirty to forty in width,
with its northern extremity elevated two hundred and
eighty-five feet, we shall have some idea of the delta
which the river has created in the progress of time.
This plane, containing forty thousand square miles,
has been formed in the course of ages from the ma-
terial washed down from the uplands by the river
and its tributaries. The river has therefore raised
above the sea the soil which constitutes its own bed,
and flows down this plane of its own creation in a
serpentine course, frequently crowding the hills and
bluffs. The actual distance from the mouth of the
Ohio to the gulf is in round numbers five hundred
miles, the length of the Mississippi from the same
point to the gulf is eleven hundred and seventy-
eight miles, and the average descent at high water is
three and a quarter inches per mile. The course of
the river is therefore lengthened out nearly seven hun-
dred miles, or more than doubled by the remarkable
flexures of its channel, and the rate of descent is re-
duced by these flexures to less than one-half the in-
clination of the plane down which it flows.
The Mississippi bears along at all times, but es-
pecially in the periods of the floods, a vast amount of
earthy matter suspended in its waters, which the cur-
rent is able to carry forward so long as the water is
confined to the channel. But when the water over-
flows the banks its velocity is checked, and it imme-
diately deposits the heaviest particles which it trans-
ports and leaves them upon its borders, and as the
water continues to spread farther from its banks, it
continues to let down more and more of this sus-
pended material, the heaviest particles being deposited
on the banks, and the finest clay conveyed to positions
more remote. The consequence is that the borders
of the river which received the first and heaviest
particles are raised higher above the general level of
the plane than the soil which is more remote, and
that while the plane of the delta dips towards the
sea at the rate of eight inches per mile, the soil ad-
jacent to the banks slopes off at right angles to the
course of the river into the interior for five or six
miles at the rate of three or four feet to the mile.
The lands immediately on the borders of the river are
extremely fertile, and often highly cultivated, but as
they are all subject to inundation during the high
floods of the river, they are guarded by artificial em-
bankments. The water pressing upon these embank-
ments often produces breaches or crevasses through
them, and rushes in a deep column into the low
grounds, and sweeps over every improvement. The
width, depth, and area of cross section of the Mis-
sissippi below St. Louis will be found in the following
table, from the memoir of Charles Ellet, Jr. :
Points on the River. ^rdt.h>
t eeu
At Cape Girardeau, 1% miles above— 2500
66.5
77.5
71.3
102.5
72.8
81.5
81.0
103.6
79.1
87.6
102.1
120.0
84.0
96.3
91.3
Area of
Cross Section,
Square Feet.
105,544
... 4031
235,333
143,212
161,221
171,190
196,300
170,160
187,170
178,220
108,130
1 fid, 164
207,800
187.220
256.292
... 2830
At Horse-Shoe Cut-Off
Above Arkansas River, -^ mile
Below " " % ni''e
At American Bend, upper side
.. 2940
.. 2*U
... 3730
. 3365
.. 3285
.. 3440
... 3540
.. 3513
Below " 3 "
.. 4400
.. 4048
Below " " ..
.. 5613
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1039
Points on the River.
Above Grand Gulf, 4 miles
Below " " 3 "
Above Red River, 1^ mile
Below " " 1 "
In Racourci Cut-Off.
At Tunica Bend
Baton Kougc
Above Plaquemine, 1J^ miles
Below " " "
Above Donaldsonville, 1 mile
Bonnet Carr6 Bend, above Crevasse..
" " " below " ..
SauvS's plantation ...........................
McMaster's plantation .....................
Feet.
3644
5900
2545
3665
1761
3323
2500
2170
2790
2483
3553
2925
2983
2375
2425
Feet.
105.5
76.5
118.0
128.0
107.0
87.7
......
123,5
128.0
117.5
lo:?.2
107.9
76.4
135.3
100.0
Area of
Cross Section,
Square Feet.
175,773
264,797
194,530
268,646
148,790
233,892
212,500
181,500
199,280
200,250
114,580
198,734
152,443
182,031
166,172
The average area of high-water section of the
whole from the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans
is two hundred thousand square feet. The estimate
for the discharge of high water by the Mississippi at
the top of the flood of 1854 was one million two
hundred and eighty thousand cubic feet per second.
At the time of the Revolution there were able
men who conceived that the Atlantic States, hemmed
in by the sea and by a chain of mountains, embraced
too great a diversity of surface and products, and were
too widely scattered not to present discordant elements
and jarring interests, which could only be reconciled
and held in check by a powerful centralized govern-
ment. They could not imagine that the barriers of
the mountains would be overleaped, and that other
States would spring up in the remote West; that
their descendants would intermingle on the Pacific
coast with the people of Asia, and claim the Sand-
wich Islands for their neighbors ; that Mexico would
present but a feeble barrier to their interminable
progress, or that States would flourish in the Missis-
sippi valley, in which one of the States, Missouri,
unexplored at the period of the Revolution, has a
population, resources, and wealth greater than all the
original thirteen when their independence was achieved,
and a city, St. Louis, is more populous, wealthy, and
enterprising than all the cities of the Atlantic coast
at the same epoch.
The distances from St. Louis to points on the
upper Mississippi are as follows :
Miles.
To mouth of Missouri 20
Alton 5
Grafton 18
Cap auGris 27
Worthington 10
Hamburg 10
Clarksville 15
Louisiana
Cincinnati, 111 15
Saverton
Hannibal 7
Marion 10
Quincy 10
La Grange 10
Canton
Tully 2
Warsaw 20
Keokuk 5
Montrose 12
Total.
20
25
43
70
80
90
105
117
132
140
147
157
167
177
185
187
207
212
224
Miles. Total.
Fort Madison 12 236
Pontoosac 6 242
Dallas 2 244 •
Burlington 15 259
Oquawka 15 274
Keithbury 12 286
New Boston g 294
Port Louisa 12 306
Muscatine ]g 324
Hock Island 30 354
Hampton 12 366
Le Clair 6 372
Camanche 18 390
Albany 2 392
Fulton 10 402
Sabula ig 420
Savanna 2 422
Galena 30 452
Dubuque 25 477
Will's Landing 12 489
Waupaton 8 497
Buena Vista 6 503
Cassville 4 507
Guttenberg 10 517
McGregor 22 539
Prairie du Chien 3 542
Red House Landing 3 545
Johnson's Landing 1 546
Columbus 29 579
Lansing 2 677
Winneshiek 8 585
Victory 5 590
Warner's Landing 11 601
Wild Cats' Bluffs 12 613
La Crosse 16 629
Black River 12 641
Fortune's Landing 6 647
Montoville 4 651
Winona 7 658
Wabashaw Prairie 4 662
Honie's Landing 10 672
Hall's Landing 10 682
Wabasha 25 707
Nelson's Landing 2 709
Reed's Landing 2 711
LakePepin 1 712
Wells' Lauding 14 726
Bullard's Landing 8 734
Red Wing 8 742
Point Prescott 22 764
Point Douglas 1 765
Hastings 25 790
Crow Village 3 793
St. Paul 5 798
Falls of St. Anthony « 8 806
Mendota 6 812
FortSnelling 1 813
Itasca 37 850
Sauk Rapids 49 899
Fort Ripley 46 945
The distances from St. Louis to points on the Mis-
sissippi to Cairo are as follows :
Miles. Total.
To Cahokia 4 4
Carondelet 1 5
Jefferson Barracks 5 10
Sneck's Landing 10 20
Widow Waters' Landing 1 21
Sulphur Springs 2 23
Rattlesnake Springs 2 25
Harlow's 5 30
Platin Rock 2 32
Selina 3
Rushtower 6 40
John Brickley's 5 45
Fort Chartres 5 50
Ste. Genevieve 10
St. Mary's 10 70
Pratt's 2 72
Kaskaskia 3 75
Chester 5 80
1040
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Miles. Total.
Maynard 1
Fort Perry 1
Liberty
Underbill's.
Herring's ..
Baily's
Wilkinson..
Linhoop.
Sellers ,
Grand Tower.
Birmingham..
Hines
Preston's
Bennet's
Neelev's
5
1
4
5
1
Wittenburg 14
1
'".'".'.'.'.".! 6
1
1
1
1
V a null's 1
Willard's 2
Bainbridge 1
Clear Creek 9
Cape Girardeau 5
Thebes 10
Commerce .• 3
Thornton's 5
Price's 2
Lane's 3
Hunt's 1
Rodney's 15
Cairo 5
Mouth of Ohio 5
Ohio City 5
81
82
90
95
96
100
105
106
120
121
122
128
129
130
131
132
133
135
136
145
150
160
163
168
170
173
174
189
194
194
194
The river system of the Mississippi valley, of
which St. Louis is the centre, the entrepot, may be
summarized as follows :
Miles.
Mississippi from St. Anthony's Falls to
the Gulf of Mexico
Red River to head of navigation
Arkansas to Neosho River
White River to Batesville
St. Francis River
Missouri River
Osage River 300
Kansas 300
Other tributaries '.... 600
Des Moines
St. Peter's
Yazoo
Ohio
Its tributaries — Tennessee 600
Cumberland ., 300
Wabash 300
Green, Kentucky, and Muskingum.. 500
Allegheny 400
The Illinois
Rock River, Galena, Wisconsin, and St.
Croix
2,200
1,100
600
400
100
2,000
1,200
300
300
100
1,000
2,100
300
500
Making the total river navigation.. 12,200
At Fort Snelling the St. Peter's, or Minnesota
River empties into the Mississippi, eight hundred and
thirteen miles above St. Louis, and is navigable for
sixty miles. By the River and Harbor Act of 1882
the Secretary of War is directed to cause examina-
tions and surveys to be made of " the source of this
river, near the foot of Big Stone Lake, with a view
to its being added to the reservoir system of the
Mississippi and its tributaries." The St. Croix
River, with its large lumber trade, is about two
hundred miles in length, and enters the Mississippi
at a point seven hundred and sixty-five miles above
St. Louis ; the chief river points on the St. Croix are
Hudson, Stillwater, Osceola, and St. Croix Falls.1
The Chippewa River empties into the Mississippi
six hundred and eighty-six miles above St. Louis,
near the end of Lake Pepin, upon which a harbor of
refuge at Lake City is to be constructed under the
River and Harbor Act of 1882. This river is naviga-
ble for steamboats about seventy miles, and upon its
surface large quantities of timber are annually rafted
to St. Louis ; its length is three hundred miles, and
its chief tributaries are the Clearwater and Red
Cedar Rivers. For the improvement of the Chip-
pewa River thirty-five thousand dollars was appro-
priated by the River and Harbor Act of 1882.
The Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi
four miles below Prairie du Chien, and five hundred
and thirty-eight miles above St. Louis. This river is
navigable for steamboats as far as Portage, where the
canal connects it with the Fox River, which flows
into Green Bay, and connects the Mississippi system
with the lake system of navigation. The length of
the Wisconsin is six hundred miles, and it receives
the waters of many tributaries, some of them streams
of considerable volume. The Fevre River, upon
which Galena is situated, enters the Mississippi a few
miles below Duluth, and is navigable a part of the
year to Galena. The Wapsipinicon River, at a point
seven miles below Camanche, and three hundred and
eighty-three miles above St. Louis, empties into the
Mississippi. Its length is two hundred miles, but it
is not navigable. The Rock River, rising in Fon du
Lac County, Wis., near Lake Winnebago, flows south-
westerly, and enters the Mississippi River two miles
below Rock Island, at a point three hundred and
fifty-two miles above St. Louis. Its navigation is
dependent upon high water, and extends two hundred
and twenty-five miles.
The distances on Rock River from Watertown to
the Mississippi are :
Miles.
From Watertown to Jefferson 16
To Fort Atkinson S
Janesville 34
Beloit 18
Roscoe 8
Rockford 12
Byron
Oregon 10
Dixon 20
Sterling :
Lyndon 16
Prophetstown 2
Camden 45
Mississippi River 1
The Iowa River takes its rise in Hancock County,
Iowa, and is navigable for small steamboats in the
Total.
16
24
58
76
84
96
108
118
138
150
166
168
213
214
1 Thirty thousand dollars was appropriated by the River
and Harbor Act of 1882 for improving this river.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1041
high-water season for eighty miles from its mouth, on
the Mississippi River, two hundred and ninety-four
miles above St. Louis, near New Boston. Its length
is about three hundred miles, and its course south-
easterly.
The Des Moines River, rising in the southern part
of Minnesota, flows through an exceedingly fertile
and productive country for four hundred miles, of
which two hundred are navigable. It enters the
Mississippi near Alexandria, Mo., about two hundred
and seven miles above St. Louis. The distances upon
this river are :
Miles. Total.
From Fort Des Moines to Dudley 14 14
To Lafayette 5 19
Bennington 10 29
Red Rock 16 45
Amsterdam 12 57
Bellefontaine 12 69
Auburn 12 81
Des Moines City 8 89
Eddyville 2 91
Chillicothe 8 99
Ottuinwa 12 111
New Market 20 131
Portland 6 137
Philadelphia 8 145
Pittsburgh 7 152
Pleasant Hill 5 157
Vernon 8 165
Bonaparte 5 170
Fnrmington 8 178
Black Hawk 3 181
Croton 3 184 ,
Athens 5 189
Belfast 6 195
St. Francisville 10 205
Mississippi River 15 220
Quincy, 111., one hundred and sixty-seven miles
above St. Louis, on the Mississippi, is situated in one
of the finest agricultural sections of the country.
Hannibal, Mo., one hundred and forty-seven miles
above St. Louis, is an important point for the ship-
ment of pork, hemp, tobacco, and other produce.
Both of these thriving cities are important centres of
the trade and commerce of St. Louis.
The Illinois River empties into the Mississippi at
Grafton, 111., forty-three miles above St. Louis. The
Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers uniting at Dresden
form the Illinois, which, receiving the waters of Ver-
milion River, then becomes navigable for steamboats
during a part of the year. The productiveness of
the country through which the Illinois flows makes
the commerce of that river very valuable. The dis-
tances from St. Louis to trading-points on the Illinois
River are as follows :
Miles. Total.
To Mason's Landing 42 42
Hurdin 25 67
Columbians 10 77
Apple Creek 4
Bridgeport.
Miles.
Total.
Meredosia ,
6
119
10
129
4
143
Browning
6
149
6
155
Bath
12
167
12
179
10
189
Copperas
12
201
Lancaster
8
209
Kingston
2
211
Pekin
10
221
Wesley City
6
227
Peoria
3
230
Spring Bay
14
244
Rome
6
250
Chillicothe
2
252
20
272
30
302
La Salle
1
303
SI
83
Monte/ uina 14
Florence 6 103
Griggsville 6 109
Naples 4 113
The Missouri River unites with the Mississippi
twenty miles above St. Louis. The springs in the
Rocky Mountains from which its head-waters flow
are not more than a mile from those which supply
the Columbia River, which empties into the Pacific
Ocean. The Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison, three
small streams, unite to form the Missouri. The
" Gates of the Rocky Mountains," which, rising
perpendicularly from the water's edge to the height
of twelve hundred feet, compress the river into a
breadth of four hundred and fifty feet, are four
hundred and forty-one miles from the extreme point
of navigation of the branches. The " Great Falls," a
series of rapids, having a fall of three hundred and
fifty-one feet in sixteen miles, are one hundred and
ten miles below the " Gates." These falls are broken
into four leaps, of which the first in the descent of
the river is twenty-six feet ; the second, forty-seven
feet ; the third, nineteen feet ; and the fourth, ninety-
eight feet. Below the falls navigation is unobstructed
by any permanent barrier, and only impeded by low
waters after the July flood has passed down. The
great number of islands and sand-bars that have
formed in the river render the channel intricate and
difficult for navigation, which, with the numerous
"snags," make steamboating extremely hazardous.
The first important tributary, the Yellowstone, is as
yet not of any material importance from a commercial
point of view. It is navigable for a considerable dis-
tance by the steamboats of the upper Missouri, and
when the country through which it flows shall have
been settled and cultivated, the trade of the Yellow-
stone will doubtless become very valuable.
The Platte, or Nebraska River enters the Missouri
seven hundred and forty miles from St. Louis.
Formed by its North and South Forks, which rise in
the Rocky Mountains, the Platte flows easterly for
two thousand miles, but is shallow, and, except in the
great freshets of the spring, is not navigable.
1042
HISTORY OP SAINT LOUIS.
Sixteen miles above Kansas City and four hundred
and seventy-three from St. Louis, the Little Platte
from Iowa enters the Missouri. It is two hundred
miles in length, shallow, and not of much importance
commercially.
One of the largest tributaries of the Missouri is the
Kansas, which enters that river near Kansas City,
four hundred and fifty-nine miles from St. Louis.
Rising in the Rocky Mountains, and flowing east-
ward through the rich State of Kansas, its length is
twelve hundred miles, nine hundred of which, with
some improvement, might be made navigable. It is
one thousand feet wide at its mouth, and has many
tributaries, of which Solomon's Fork, seven hundred
miles long, and Smoky Hill Fork, eight hundred
miles long, are the largest.
Grand River enters the Missouri three hundred and
one miles from St. Louis. It is two hundred and
forty miles in length, and navigable one hundred
miles between the Missouri and Madison, Iowa.
Five miles below Cambridge, Iowa, and two hun-
dred and sixty-nine above St. Louis, the Chariton
River from Iowa enters the Missouri. It is navigable
for thirty miles, and its length is one hundred miles.
Eight miles below Arrow Rock and two hundred
and forty miles from St. Louis, the La Mine River
enters the Missouri. It is navigable for about thirty
miles.
The Osage River is about five hundred miles in
length, and runs through a very fertile and productive
country, and enters the Missouri one hundred and
sixty-nine miles from St. Louis. It is navigable for
about two hundred miles.
The Gasconade, rising in Wright County, Mo.,
runs nearly two hundred miles, and empties into the
Missouri one hundred and twenty-nine miles from St.
Louis. It is important only as supplying water-power,
and is not navigable.
The distances from St. Louis to points on the Mis-
souri River are as follows :
Miles. Total.
To inouth of Missouri River.
Bellefontaine Bend.
Jamestown
Charbonier
St. Charles
Howard Bend
Bonhorame Island..
Howell's Ferry
Dozier
Port Royal
Tavern Rock
Mount Albans
Augusta
Jones Point
Houth Point
Basonia
Washington
Tuque Point.
20
5
2
II)
12
1
4
5
1
1
1
6
2
4
1
1
1
St. John's Landing 2
20
25
27
35
45
57
58
62
67
68
69
70
76
78
82
83
M
85
87
Miles. Total.
Newport Landing 2 89
Miller's Landing 9 98
Hermann 23 121
Gasconade 8 129
Portland 12 141
St.Aubert's 10 151
Shipley's 4 155
Bonnot's Mills 7 162
Osage 2 164
Moreau 5 169
Jefferson City 5 174
Claysville 7 181
Marion 10 191
Martin's Landing 7 198
Nashville 7 205
Mount Vernon 7 212
Rocheport 8 220
Boonville ... 12 232
La Mine 8 240
Arrow Rock 8 248
Glasgow 17 265
Cambridge 9 274
Brunswick 26 300
Miami 15 315
Waverly 31 346
Dover Landing 13 359
Lexington 12 371
Wellington 8 379
Camden 10 389
Napoleon 8 397
Richfield 24 421
Liberty 15 436
Kansas City 21 457
Kansas River 2 459
Leavenworth 13 472
Little Platte 1 473
Weston 33 506
Atchison 15 521
Doniphan 7 528
Maysville 28 556
Palermo 24 580
St. Joseph 11 591
Nodaway 25 616
Iowa Point 30 646
Brownsville 40 686
NebraskaCity 30 716
Plattsmouth 21 737
Platte River 3 740
St. Mary's 2 742
Council Bluffs 15 757
Florence 10 767
Fort Calhoun 10 777
DeRoto 15 792
Tekama 30 822
Sioux City 60 882
Yellowstone River 1075 1957
Great Falls 675 2632
Rocky Mountain Gates 110 2742
The Ohio, which enters the Mississippi at Cairo,
one hundred and seventy-four miles below St. Louis,
is formed at Pittsburgh, one thousand and nineteen
miles from Cairo, by the junction of the Allegheny
and Youghiogheny. The Allegheny, which is the
proper continuation of the Ohio, rises on the borders
of Lake Erie, where its tributaries terminate in
Lake Chautauqua, one thousand three hundred feet
above the level of the sea, and seven hundred feet
above the level of Lake Erie. A boat may start
from these sources, within seven miles of Lake Erie,
in sight sometimes of the sails which whiten the ap-
proach to the harbor of Buffalo, and float securely
down the Conewango or Cassadaga to the Allegheny,
down that river to the Ohio, and thence uninterrupt-
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1043
edly to the Gulf of Mexico. In all this distance of
two thousand four hundred miles the descent is so
uniform and gentle, so little accelerated by rapids,
that when there is sufficient water to float the vessel,
and sufficient power to govern it, the downward voy-
age may be performed without difficulty or danger in
the channels as they were formed by nature. Steam-
boats have ascended the Allegheny to Olean Point,
two thousand three hundred miles from the mouth of
the Mississippi, and two hundred and fifty miles
above Pittsburgh. From the junction of the two prin-
cipal tributaries of the Ohio at Pittsburgh, to Point
Pleasant, where the Great Kanawha River from West
Virginia enters the Ohio, there are only small and un-
important streams entering the Ohio. Point Pleasant
is distant from St. Louis nine hundred and forty-two
miles. The Great Kanawha is navigable for small
boats, and the products of salt, coal, and iron which
in great quantities are sent down that river find at
St. Louis a market. The salt manufactures along
the Great Kanawha amount to eight million bushels
annually.
Improvement of the Mississippi and Tribu-
taries.— Prior to the construction of the New York
and Canadian canals, and the opening of railways be-
tween the Western and Eastern States, the Missis-
sippi River and its navigable tributaries were the only
highways of commerce between the vast territory
embracing the Western States and the other States of
the Union. The closing of the mouth of the Missis-
sippi during the civil war, the general paralysis of
Southern industry and trade incident to that war, and
the increase in the size of ocean vessels turned the
current of commerce from the southern to the eastern
route, and from the bosom of the Mississippi to the
canals and railways that led to Northern Atlantic
cities. This deflection of the commerce of the Western
States from the southern to the northern routes dim-
inished, without destroying, the value of the Missis-
sippi River as a great commercial highway. The
relative economy of water over rail transportation for
heavy freights, and the failure of the railways to sup-
ply sufficient cheap transportation to meet the demands
of a rapidly increasing commerce between the great
central basin of this continent and the markets of
the world, created that public sentiment, to which
Congress has within a few years past responded, for
the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi
and its tributaries. Previous to the public recogni-
tion of the vast importance of this national under-
taking, the prevention of " inundations of the delta
of the Mississippi" had attracted attention, together
with the practicability and cost of improving the
navigation of Western rivers, as incidental rather
than primary reasons for those improvements. The
memoir of Charles Ellet, Jr.,1 was prepared under
the authority of an act of Congress directing the
Secretary of War to institute such surveys and in-
vestigations as were necessary to the preparation of
adequate plans for protecting the delta from inunda-
tions, and increasing the depth of water on the bars
at the mouth of the Mississippi. Mr. Ellet, though
j not an officer of the government or in the employ of
the War Department, was called to this important
duty, and authorized to make such investigations
as would enable him to devise and report suitable
plans for the protection of the delta from inunda-
tions by overflows.
As- early as 1841 the attention of Congress was
called to the condition of the Mississippi above the
mouth of the Ohio. From 1836 to 1841 it was said
that more property had been destroyed from the
mouth of the Ohio to St. Louis by snags than on all
the other parts of the river and its tributaries.2 Not-
withstanding the general government had provided
; snag-boats for the lower river, the manifest neglect of
the Western rivers was entailing an annual loss of
millions of dollars upon the commerce of the West,
owing to the dangerous and destructive condition of
the then only commercial highway for that great sec-
tion of the country. A theory of constitutional con-
struction intervened to obstruct the work of improve-
ment, which became so obviously absurd that to avoid
its inconveniences Mr. Calhoun designated the Missis-
sippi River as an " inland sea," to the improvement
of which the powers of the general government
might be applied. Notwithstanding the vast extent
and wonderful fertility of the country which those
rivers drain, the nature, variety, and location of the
products seeking transportation, and the almost incal-
culable commerce which demanded the facilities of
easy and safe movement, their navigation was left un-
improved until the competition of the railroads gave
weight and influence to the demands of an injured
public.
In 1870, Congress, in addition to the usual appro-
priation for river improvements and surveys, made an
1 " The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers : containing plans for the
protection of the delta from inundations; and investigations
of the practicability and cost of improving the navigation of
the Ohio and other rivers by means of reservoirs, with appendix
on the bars at the mouth of the Mississippi, by Charles Ellet,
Jr., Civil Engineer."
2 John A. Scudder, before the Senate Committee on Transpor-
tation Routes to the Seaboard, in 1 873, said, " I suppose there are
five thousand wrecks between this (St. Louis) and Cairo alone.
I speak now of all the boats that are sunk." P. 615.
1044
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
allowance of funds for the survey and examination of
various small streams tributary to the Mississippi and
its great branches. Among the streams to be exam-
ined were the Cuivre River in Missouri, the Current
River in Missouri, Black River, Missouri and Ark-
ansas, White River, flowing through the same States,
the Fourche la Faire in Arkansas, and Bayou Bar-
tholomew in Louisiana. The surveys of these rivers
were made by Brevet Maj. Charles J. Allen, Engi-
neer Corps, who in that year reported to Gen. William
T. Reynolds, U. S. Engineer Corps, in charge of
Western rivers at St. Louis. In addition to the ex-
amination of these rivers, the same Congress which
authorized this work ordered a complete survey of the
Ouachita River from Trinity, La., to Camden, Ark.,
a distance of three hundred miles. This survey was
made in order to ascertain the practicability of im-
proving navigation on that stream by the construction
of locks and dams.
The opening up of the Little Missouri River for
the navigation of light-draught steamboats, a work of
immense value to all that section of country adjacent
to its waters, as well as to the general interests of
Western commerce, was accomplished that year. The
country through which it flows is a very productive
region, but the fact that it was in a measure cut off
from markets prevented its development. Cotton,
the chief product of this rich region, had to be hauled
on wagons a distance of one hundred miles, which
placed an embargo on its production.
The work, however, accomplished by Maj. Allen,
in which St. Louis is most deeply interested, was his
thorough and complete survey of that portion of the
Mississippi River extending from the mouth of the
Missouri to the mouth of the Maramec, which in-
cludes the harbor of St. Louis. A careful examina-
tion of the bars, chutes, and bank abrasions was made,
and the particular force of the current in certain
localities was ascertained.
During the season of 1871,1 Gen. Reynolds re-
1 The snag-boat fleet in 1871 under the command of Gen.
Reynolds was composed of the "Thayer," the "Octavia," the
"S. H. Long," the " R. E. DeRussey," and the " J. J. Abert."
The " Thayer" operated in the Missouri, between St. Joseph
and Omaha, from the time the river opened until the close of
September, when she was sent to the upper White, Black, and
Little Red Rivers.
The " R. E. DeRussey" operated in the Missouri, between
Kansas City and St. Joseph, from early in the season until the
1st of September.
After her arrival at St. Louis she was loaned to the city au-
thorities to remove obstructions in the harbor, the city paying
all her expenses. This was a benefit to the city and no loss to
the general commerce, for the reason that the appropriation was
not enough to keep the boats at work until the 1st of July.
moved over four thousand snags, roots and all, from
the streams, as well as " rack heaps" destroyed and
wrecks removed, and thousands of trees cut to pre-
vent their becoming snags, and aid given to vessels
aground or in distress, which was always rendered
when possible and never charged for.
In the upper Ouachita and Little Missouri, where
snag-boats could not go, flat-boats drawing not over
ten inches of water were set at work " cutting" snags
which their light power could not pull out. The
work was done under the superintendence of experi-
enced pilots of those streams, and at a low stage of
water. This was the only cutting that was done, ex-
cepting in the case of chutes, in two or three cases,
when they were so low that the yawl only could go
through. This method was adopted to render the
chute available when a rise should come.
Under the law of Congress 2 allowing the employ-
ment of civil engineers for the purpose of executing
the surveys and improvements of Western and North-
western rivers, much work has been done on the nav-
igable waters of the Mississippi valley.
In 1845 the Memphis Convention, for the purpose
of bringing the condition of navigation on Western
rivers to the attention of Congress, was held. John
The " Long" operated in the Missouri, from Kansas City to-
Hermann, until about the 1st of September, when she was with-
drawn. After she reached the Mississippi she worked a few
days in the St. Louis harbor, and on the 1st of November was
ordered below, between Memphis and the mouth of the Ar-
kansas.
The " J. J. Abert" worked in the Missouri, below St. Aubert,
until the middle of August, when she came into the Mississippi,
and worked between the mouth of the Missouri and Memphis.
The "Octavia" was employed the entire season between
Keokuk and Cairo, endeavoring to keep a good depth of water
between these points, until it was necessary to send her into
the Missouri to help the "DeRussey" and "Abert" out of that
river.
The work of the " Octavia" was of great service between St.
Louis and Keokuk, but owing to the nature of the river from
St. Louis to Cairo the benefit was not so great. Channels across
the worst bars were cut several times during the season, but
they soon filled up.
The amount available for running and operating the dredge
and snag-boats after using enough for repairs was only one hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars. With this they were run about
nine months each, which, as there were five boats in all, was an
average cost of about three thousand four hundred dollars per
month, or less than one hundred and twenty dollars per day.
The Missouri from Omaha to the mouth, the Mississippi from
Keokuk to Vicksburg, the Arkansas from its mouth probably
to Little Rock, the Ouachita from its mouth to (.'anxlen, the
White from its mouth to Jacksonport, the Little Red, Black,
ami St. Francis Rivers from their mouths as far up as the boats
can go well, were all passed over by the snag-boats at least
twice, and the greater part of the distance four or more times
during that season.
» March 29, 1867: Rev. Stat., Sec. 5253.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1045
C. Calhoun presided, and was made chairman of the
committee to memorialize Congress. In that memo-
rial Mr. Calhoun took the broadest ground in favor
of the improvements being made by the Federal gov-
ernment without regard to their cost.
A convention was held in Chicago July 4, 1847,
to consider the subject of the improvement of the
Mississippi River and its principal tributaries, to
which delegates from St. Louis were appointed.
These delegates prepared an able report upon the
subject, which was published in pamphlet form,1 from
which it appears that there were 1190 steamboats
and 4000 keel- and flat-boats engaged in the commerce
of Western rivers, employing 61,650 persons, the cost
of which is set at $16,188,561, and the running ex-
penses at $32,725,000. The cost of river transporta-
tion was summed up as follows :
Cost of running 1190 steamboats $32,725,000
Insurance, at 12 percent 1,942,627
Interest,at 6 percent 971,313
Wear and tear, at 24 per cent 3,885,254
Tolls on Louisville and Portland Canal 250,000
Cost of flat-boats (included because
sacrificed at New Orleans) 1,380,000
Total cost of transportation $41,154,194
This vast sum was an annual " tax upon the surplus
produce, enterprise, industry, and trade of the coun-
try." The aggregate annual tonnage transported was
set at 10,126,160 tons; and the "grand aggregate value
of commerce afloat upon the navigable waters of the
valley of the Mississippi" was estimated by this com-
mittee at $432,621,240, "being nearly double the
amount of the whole foreign commerce of the United
States." Taking into consideration the loss of steam-
boats and cargoes, the committee regarded it as not
" too high an estimate to put down the actual losses
at two millions of dollars per annum. This is anni-
hilated,— so much destroyed of the wealth of the
country, — amounting every ten years to a sum equal
to the purchase-money paid by the government for all
Louisiana."
This was the era in Federal politics when the au-
thority of the general government to undertake works
of internal improvement was denied by a powerful
and often successful party. It was also a time when
the discipline of party was stronger and more binding
than the interests of States and sections. That theory
as well as discipline may be said to have departed
1 " The Commerce and Navigation of the Valley of the Missis-
sippi, and also that appertaining to the city of St. Louis, con-
sidered with reference to the improvement by the general gov-
ernment of the Mississippi and its principal tributaries, being
a report prepared by authority of the delegates from the city
of St. Louis for the use of the Chicago Convention of July 5,
1847."
forever from the politics of the country, since the
River and Harbor bill of 1882 appropriated nearly
$20,000,000 for the improvement of the rivers and
harbors of the country, of which $4,123,000 was for
the Mississippi River. Up to 1873 the United States
government had expended for the improvement of
rivers and harbors on
The Atlanticcoast $9,587,173
The Gulf coast 579,706
The Pacific coast 638,003
The Northern lakes 10,437,158
The Western rivers 11,438,300
Total $32,680,340
Above the Falls of St. Anthony to Leech Lake, a
distance of six hundred and seventy-five miles, the
Mississippi may be navigated in certain conditions
of the rainfall. A reconnoissance of this part of the
river was made in 1869 by Francis Cook, civil engi-
neer, under the direction of Gen. G. K. Warren, of the
United States Engineer Corps. In his report of Jan.
22, 1870,2 Mr. Cook presents much valuable informa-
tion in regard to the improvement of the upper Mis-
sissippi, and revives the " reservoir" plan of Mr. Ellet
for supplying the river both above and below the
Falls of St. Anthony during dry seasons. A lockage
at Sauk Rapids of eighteen feet will connect the reaches
of the river and extend the navigation to Little Falls,
where a lockage of fourteen feet will form a connec-
tion with another navigable reach extending to the
mouth of Pine River, where the removal of bowlders
and the opening of cut-ofis will extend navigation to
Pokegama Falls. At that point a lockage of thirty
feet will open the navigable waters above to Lake Leech
and Winnebagoshish Lake. Thus continuous naviga-
tion will be had for six hundred and seventy-five miles
above the Falls of St. Anthony. The natural reser-
voirs that would supply the Mississippi River, both
above and below the Falls of St. Anthony, during
the seasons of low water are to be formed by con-
structing a dam at Pokegama Falls, by which a supply
of 37,057,638,400 cubic feet of water could be ob-
tained, and a dam raising Lake Mille Lacs two feet
would increase that amount 10,036,224,000 cubic feet.
The estimated cost of these reservoirs was one hun-
dred and fourteen thousand dollars, and they would
supply to the upper Mississippi a permanent depth of
from four and a half to five feet during the entire
season. In a report to the War Department, Dec. 22,
1873,3 Maj. F. W. Farquhar, of the United States
Engineer Corps, recommended that a complete survey
be made of the navigable portions of the Mississippi
* K.\. Doc. 285, Forty-first Congress, Second Session.
3 Ex. Doc. 145, Forty-third Congress, First Session.
1046
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
River above the Falls of St. Anthony, and urged the
further improvement of the river between St. Anthony
and St. Cloud. These improvements have all been
undertaken by the general government, and for con-
tinuing operations on the reservoirs at the head-waters
of the Mississippi, Congress appropriated, Aug. 2, i
1882,1 three hundred thousand dollars. By the same
act twenty-five thousand dollars was appropriated for
the removal of snags, ten thousand dollars for contin-
uing the improvement of the Mississippi River above
the Falls of St. Anthony, and twenty-five thousand
dollars for improving the falls.
Upon the Mississippi between St. Paul and St.
Louis two dredge-boats have been employed since
1867, operating chiefly upon sand-bars, removing
snags and overhanging trees. The Rock Island
Rapids2 have been improved by excavating a chan-
nel so as to give a width of two hundred feet and a
navigable depth of four feet at extreme low water, |
and a canal 6.7 miles in length was constructed at
Keokuk Rapids. This canal is from two hundred and
fifty to three hundred feet in width, with a minimum
depth of five feet. The act of Aug. 2, 1882,8 appro-
priated two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for con-
tinuing the improvement of the Mississippi River from
St. Paul to Des Moines Rapids, and thirty thousand
dollars for the construction of a dry-dock at the Des
Moines Rapids Canal, and thirty thousand dollars for
improving Des Moines Rapids Canal. " The widening
of the channel at Rock Island," 4 said a committee of
St. Louis business men in a letter to a committee of
Congress, " the completion of the canal at Des Moines,
the construction of the wing-dams before alluded to,
the removal of wrecks and snags, and the construction
of the Fort St. Philip Canal would, we believe, result
in the utilizing of this great waterway from St. Paul
to New Orleans, and reduce the cost of transportation
to a uniform cost not exceeding the lowest average
as shown by the tables of freight accompanying this
report. In the opinion of this committee, the removal
of wrecks and snags between St. Louis and New Or-
1 River and Harbor Bill.
1 In .1836, Lieut. R. E. Lee was in charge of the improve-
ments, and continued work thereon until 1839. No appropria-
tion was made from 1839 to 1852, when, under an appropriation
by Congress, the work was intrusted to Lieut. Warren, of the
topographical engineers. In 1856, Maj. Floyd was put in
charge of the work, and since then it has been prosecuted under
the supervision of engineers of the United States.
s River and Harbor Bill.
* Letter signed E. 0. Stanard, chairman, Erastus Wells, W.
H. Stone, Lewis V. Bogy, R. P. Tausey, Webster M. Samuel,
George Bain, H. C. Haarstick, Isaac M. Mason. Myron Coloney,
George H. Morgan, in report of Transportation Committee, page
598.
leans is of vital importance to the commerce of the
river. Wrecks between St. Louis and Cairo, sunken
many years ago and forgotten, are so numerous that,
from the extra hazard they present, our rate of insur-
ance is not only increased upon boat hulls and cargoes,
but steamers with thin hulls and light draught are re-
fused insurance at any rate. It is necessary, there-
fore, to construct much stronger and more expensive
hulls, and necessarily of deeper draught, than would
be acceptable to underwriters were these wrecks and
snags removed." The opinions of these leading com-
mercial men, as well as the reports of engineers, at
length created so strong a public sentiment in regard
to the improvement of the Mississippi River that Con-
gress, by the act of June 18, 1879, created the Mis-
sissippi River Commission, to examine and report
such plans, specifications, and estimates as would ren-
der the river, when the work was completed, fully equal
to the demands of commerce. For the commence-
ment of this great work there was appropriated by
the act of August, 1882, the sum of $4,123,000 for
the improvement of the Mississippi River " from
the head of the Passes to Cairo," and $600,000 for
improving the river " from Cairo to the Des Moines
Rapids." The estimates of the cost of the various im-
provements of the Mississippi and its tributaries,
made by the Merchants' Exchange of St. Louis,
amounted to $16,010,000, and are supposed to cover
the entire cost of the radical improvements of these
rivers, with the exception of the Ohio.
The improvement of the latter river so as to secure
a uniform depth of six feet at low water from Pitts-
burgh to Cairo has long been recognized as being
demanded by the vast interests that line the banks of
that mighty stream. The length of the river between
those points is nine hundred and twenty-seven miles.
Six States border upon it, viz. : Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, and
the territory drained by it embraces 214,000 square
miles. W. Milnor Roberts, in 1868, estimated the
value of the commerce of the cities and towns on the
river at $1,623,000,000. The coal and other mineral
interests are of immense value and importance. The
coal area embraces a territory of 122,000 square
miles, and the shipments of coal by the river in 1873
amounted to 60,000,000 bushels, or 2,300,000 tons.
Almost all the coal consumed in the cities, towns,
and country bordering on the Mississippi River and
its navigable tributaries below St. Louis, consumed
by steamers on the Mississippi River, and to a great
extent by ocean-steamers from New Orleans, is shipped
on the Ohio River. During a single rise in that river
forty-six fleets, composed of three hundred and sixty-
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1047
nine barges, and carrying 4,156,000 bushels of coal,
started from Pittsburgh within three days.
A board of commissioners for the improvement of
the Ohio River was created in 1872 by the joint
action of the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois,
which presented a memorial to Congress Dec. 16,
1872, asking the general government to undertake
the work, which was stated to be " not one of en-
gineering but of finance." The difficulty which em- '
barrasses the navigation of the Ohio arises from a
descent of four hundred and twenty-six feet between
Pittsburgh and Cairo, in consequence of which the
current varies from one and a half to three and a half
miles per hour. In 1870, W. Milnor Roberts, United
States engineer, suggested a plan of improvement, the
estimated cost of which was twenty-three million
seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand six hun-
dred and sixty-two dollars, and Gen. G. Weitzel, major
of engineers, and W. E. Merrill, major of engineers,
as a board of commissioners, appointed by the War
Department April 16, 1872, reported a plan of im-
provement Jan. 31, 1874.1 With the exception of
the purchase of the Louisville and Portland Canal
around the falls of the Ohio and making the same
free, very little of any importance and nothing of any
permanent value has been done towards the improve-
ment of the Ohio River by the Federal government.
The improvement of the Illinois River was begun as
early as 1836 with the construction of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal, which was to extend from Chicago to
the Illinois River at La Salle, a distance of about one
hundred miles, but in the general financial crash of
1837 the work was suspended. The bonds issued for •
the construction of the canal were owned principally in j
England. In 1844 a proposition was made to the Eng-
lish bondholders that if they would advance sixteen
hundred thousand dollars for the completion of the i
canal it should pass into their hands, and its revenue i
go, with what lands2 the State owned, — the avails of
the bonds being paid into the canal funds to reimburse
the State, — to pay the bonds, interest and principal.
In accordance with this suggestion the English bond-
holders appointed two trustees and the State one,
under whose control the work remained until May 1,
1872. The original plan of building the canal was
to give it an incline from the Chicago River to the
Des Plaines River at Lockport, and then supply a
portion of the water by pumping-works at Bridge-
port, at the commencement of the canal. The city of
1 Ex. Doc. No. 127, Forty-third Congress, First Session.
* Lands donated in 1S31 by United States along the canal.
Chicago, under authority from the State, removed the
"bench," or summit level, thus securing a constant
flow of water from the Chicago River to Lockport.
A distance of twenty-seven miles was thus deepened
to eight feet, at a cost of about three millions of
dollars. The original design of this canal was to
connect the navigable waters of the Illinois River
with Lake Michigan. The tolls and revenues of the
canal were never sufficient to pay even the interest on
the bonds, owing to the fact that the Illinois River
of late years has had less water in it than when the
canal was projected. Though the improvement of the
Illinois River had been urged upon Congress tor many
years, it was not until about 1865 that an appropriation
of eighty-five thousand dollars was made for that work,
but very little was done under that appropriation, the
money being diverted by the Secretary of War to the
improvement of the Rock Island Rapids. In 1869 the
Legislature of Illinois appropriated four hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for the work, and in the same year
Congress appropriated two millions for Western rivers,
of which sum eighty-five thousand dollars was ex-
pended on this river. In 1870, Congress appropriated
one hundred thousand dollars for the work. In 1873
the estimated cost of its completion was two million two
hundred thousand dollars, and by the River and Harbor
bill of 1882 there was appropriated one hundred and
seventy-five thousand dollars for continuing the work,
which is now being carried on by the general govern-
ment. In addition, the further improvement of the
navigation of the Illinois River is contemplated by
the construction of the Hennepin Canal from Henne-
pin to Rock Island. The estimated cost of this work
is four million five hundred thousand dollars,3 for
which the River and Harbor bill of 1882 appropri-
ated the sum of thirty thousand dollars, with, how-
ever, the proviso " that nothing herein shall be con-
strued to commit the government to proceed with the
construction of the said improvement." The im-
provements of this river now completed and in con-
templation will form with the Hennepin Canal a con-
tinuous line of canal and slack-water navigation from
Chicago to the Mississippi River, as follows :
Illinois and Michigan Canal, Chicago to La Salle... 96 miles.
Slack water, Illinois River, La Salle to Hennepin... 19 '
Hennepin Canal, Illinois to Mississippi River 65 '
Total 180 «
The improvements of the upper Mississippi now
in progress will, when completed, afford seven hundred
and sixty-one miles of continuous navigation between
s Mr. Utley, of the Board of Canal Commissioners of Illinois :
Transportation Report, p. L':>J.
1048
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
St. Louis and St. Paul for barges, which can pass
through the Hennepin and the Illinois and Michigan
Canals to the city of Chicago, thus affording compe-
tition with ail railroad lines which cross the Missis-
sippi River between St. Paul and St. Louis.
Beyond the removal of the snags by the govern-
ment snag-boats, nothing has been done for the im-
provement of the navigation of the Missouri River.
The Missouri River Improvement Association in 1881
addressed a memorial to Congress upon the sub-
ject, but it is conspicuous by its absence from the
bulky volume of the River and Harbor bill of 1882.
The Fox and Wisconsin Rivers have formed an
important highway for two hundred years. It was
by pursuing this route that Marquette in 1673 dis-
covered the upper Mississippi, and along these rivers
the French missionaries and traders made the earliest
settlements in the West. _ In the ordinance for the
government of the Northwestern Territory, adopted
July 14, 1787, it was provided that the navigable
waters leading into the Mississippi and the St. Law-
rence, and the carrying places between the same, should
be common highways and forever free. The same
provision is embodied, in substance, in the act of
Congress of Aug. 7, 1789, after the adoption of the
Constitution ; in the act of Congress establishing a j
Territorial government for Wisconsin, approved April
20, 1836 ; in the act admitting Wisconsin as a State, |
Aug. 6, 1846, and in the Constitution of the State
of Wisconsin. A preliminary survey of the cost of
the improvement of these rivers was made by Capt.
Cram, of the United States Topographical Engineers,
in 1839. By the act of Congress Aug. 8, 1846, a
grant of land was made to the State of Wisconsin for
the purpose of improving the navigation of these
rivers, and for constructing a canal through the di-
vide, or " portage," to unite them, in which the j
declaration was reasserted that this channel should be
free to the commerce of the United States. The
State of Wisconsin, by its Board of Public Works,
and afterwards by corporations duly authorized, under-
took the improvement of these rivers, in the prosecu-
tion of which over two millions of dollars, including
the proceeds of the sale of the lands granted by Con-
gress, were expended. The Fox River was improved
so as to pass at low water boats of four feet draught
from Green Bay to Lake Winnebago, and boats of
two and a half feet draught from Lake Winnebago to
the Wisconsin River. Little or no work was done on
the latter river.
The improvement utterly failed to meet the re-
quirements of commerce, because it did not admit of
the passage of boats from the Mississippi up the
Wisconsin River. On the Fox River the improve-
ment aided in the development of that portion of the
State, — a development which is traceable not only to
the utilization of the water-power, but probably in a
greater degree to the competition, although neces-
sarily small, existing between water and rail. In
1870, Congress directed the Secretary of War to
adopt such a plan for the improvement of the Wis-
consin as should be approved by the chief of engi-
neers, and authorized him to appoint arbitrators to
ascertain the sum which ought to be paid for the
transfer of all rights in the works of improvement
then held by the corporation created under the laws
of Wisconsin. The sum fixed upon was one hundred
and forty-five thousand dollars. By the act of July
7, 1870,1 Congress further directed that all tolls and
revenues derived from the improvement, after pro-
viding for current expenses, should be paid into
the treasury until the United States was reimbursed
for all sums advanced for the same with interest
thereon, after which the tolls were to be reduced to
the least sum which, with any other revenue derived
from the improvement, would be sufficient to operate
and keep the improvement in repair. In 1871, Con-
gress made the appropriation of one hundred and
forty-five thousand dollars, and the deed of transfer
was executed and delivered to the United States.
Subsequently appropriations amounting to four hun-
dred thousand dollars were made. The report of Col.
Houston, then engineer in charge,2 in 1873, says,
" The work now in the hands of the government is
different from any other work of this character, and
the appropriation that was made last year (1872) is
too small an appropriation to carry on the work to
advantage." In the River and Harbor bill for 1882
the sum of two hundred thousand dollars was appro-
priated for continuing the improvement.
The efforts to improve navigation at the mouths of
the Mississippi have a history running through more
than a century and a half, — a history made up in large
part of controversy and discussion among engineers,
wherein almost every fact advanced by one was con-
troverted by another, and every theory advocated was
subsequently assailed or exploded. The vexed ques-
tion has at last been definitely settled, and it is only
necessary now to present in chronological order the
historical facts in connection with this vast enterprise.
In 1722 the present South Pass was examined by
M. Pauger, an engineer in the employ of the West-
ern Company, and described as being " straighter
1 Rev. Stat., Sec. 5249.
2 Evidence before Committee on Transportation, pp. 229-32.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1049
than the ancient pass, but narrower." It was added
that " at the outlet of this Pass there is a bar upon
which there is but nine to ten feet water, and which
is about one hundred toises wide." According to this
engineer, there was an average draught on the bar of the
South Pass, one hundred and sixty years ago, of about ,
ten English feet. From the year 1764 to 1771, we ;
learn from Gault's map, made from the Admiralty j
surveys, that the depth on the bar at the Pass was !
from eight to nine feet English. From that time to
1838 there are no data as to the depth of water. In
that year (1838) a survey was made, under the direc-
tion of the special board of United States engineers,
by George G. Meade, who ascertained that " eight
feet could be carried over the west and principal
channel." After the Meade survey a spit of sand
formed directly in the mouth of the Pass, which en-
tirely closed up the entrance, so far as commercial
purposes were concerned.
The Northeast Pass, or a branch thereof called the
Southeast Pass, was in the early period of the navi-
gation of the river the principal avenue of its com-
merce. But this preference was probably due rather
to its position, favoring vessels from the east, than to
the actual depth of water at its mouth. The earliest
notices of the bars speak of the entrance to the river
as if there were but one that was used by the ship-
ping, and Mr. Ellet says " it cannot be doubted that
the Southeast Pass, or the Northeast Pass (which
were in fact at that day, as they were fifty years
later, but two distinct channels through the shoal
water at the outlet of the Northeast Pass), is the
channel to which these early notices apply." * The
following allusion to this outlet is from a dispatch
from Bienville, then Governor of the province, to
the French minister in 1722 : " I have had the honor
to inform the Council by my last letters concerning
the entrance to the river, and to assure them that
vessels drawing not over thirteen feet (French) could
then enter at full sail without touching, and that it
would not be difficult to render the Pass practicable
for vessels of the largest size, the bottom being
nothing but a soft and movable mud." Mr. Ellet
adds that " Bienville would have undertaken to
deepen the water on the bar if the engineers who
were specially charged with such works had con-
curred with him in opinion upon the practicability of
the enterprise." The difference of opinion among
engineers which existed at that early day has con-
tinued for a century and a half, and postponed the
1 Appendix to " Memoir on Mississippi and Ohio Rivers,"
p. 329.
work until Mr. Eads forced it through by assuming
all risk, and undertaking its construction upon the
terms of no pay without success.
As early as 1722 the engineer, Pauger, expressed
the opinion that the deposit from the river " could be
broken and carried off by stopping up some of the
Passes of the Mississippi, by means of old vessels
sunk to the bottom, together with trees, of which a
prodigious quantity descends during the two first
months of the year," and he proposed a system of
dikes and brushwood for establishing the current of
the river. This plan of improvement by dikes and
brushwood, suggested in 1722 by M. Pauger, was
assailed as useless and impracticable by Charles Ellet,
Jr., in his memoir on the Mississippi and Ohio
Rivers :
"If we increase the velocity of the fresh-water currents by
contracting the channel, or by stopping up the secondary out-
lets, we shall certainly increase the depth and velocity of the
column of fresh water flowing into the gulf on top of the sea-
water. But that will not sweep out the bar. No part of the
fresh water comes within eight feet of the top of the bar which
it is expected to remove.
" The immediate effect of this increased force of fresh water
will be to carry the upper portion of the salt water immediately
below it farther out, and to transfer the place of deposit to some
other point still on the bar, but nearer the sea, just as it is now
transferred sometimes from above the head of the Passes, where
it is occasionally found in extreme low water, to within half a
mile of the edge of the gulf, to which point it recedes in com-
mon high water. But this will not prevent an under current of
salt water from flowing in and an upper current from flowing
out, nor will it prevent deposits from taking place at the points
where the direction changes, though with the same volume, of
water it will change the position of that deposit."
Mr. Ellet further contended that
" while the effect of increasing the velocity of the current by
contracting the embouchure of the river will not be felt in the
removal of the bars, this increase of current will take place at
the surface, and hence act with increased power upon the very
works by which it is produced. These works must rest on foun-
dations of loose mud, which has been deposited in the existing
order of things. There is, therefore, reason to believe, at least
to apprehend, that any material increase of littoral velocity
would carry off this deposit, undermine the works, and conse-
quently overthrow them."
In this opposition to what is now known as the
jetty system Maj. C. W. Howell, of the United States
engineers, concurred in his letter to Capt. J. H. Ogles-
by, president of the New Orleans Chamber of Com-
merce, saying, —
"The theory is attractive from its apparent simplicity, and
for the same reason is the first to claim the attention of dabblers
in hydraulic engineering, who either do not know, or else lose
sight of the condition essential to its successful application. The
principles of these conditions are two: 1. That the character of
the bed and banks of the river at the point of application be
Buch that scouring will be effected in the bed in preference to
1050
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the banks; in other words, the banks must be firm enough to
withstand the action of the current, and the bottom yielding
enough to permit scour.
" The second condition is thut there shall exist a current (lit-
toral), passing the outer extremities of the jetties perpendicular
to them, capable of sweeping to one side or the other all deposit
made about the jetty-heads and tending to form a new bar out-
side.
" No such current has been discovered at the mouth of the
Mississippi, although carefully sought. In default of it jetties
•would have to be built farther and farther out, not annually,
but steadily every day each year, to keep pace with the advance
of the river deposit into the gulf, provided they are attempted,
and the attempt warranted by having the relative character of
bed and bank favorable.
" For the reasons that these two conditions are not to be found
at the mouth of the Mississippi, careful engineers have time
and again pronounced the application of jetties at either South-
west Pass or Pass a 1'Outre not worthy of a trial at government
expense. If enthusiastic jetty men wish to pass from theory to
practice, they can always gain consent to spend their own money
in building jetties at Southwest Pass, and if they succeed in
doing good they will have a fair claim on government for recom-
pense. . . . Jetties have been attempted there, and not only
reported a failure by the inspecting officer, but abandoned by
Messrs. Craig & Righter, who made the attempt.1
" The full particulars of this may be found in Ex. Doc. No.
5 H. R., 36th Cong., 2d sess. The practical experience gained
by that failure, I presume, will deter the government, though it
will not deter adventurous jetty men, from sinking more money i
in such attempts."
The " adventurous jetty men" were Capt. James
B. Eads and his associates, who, as is well known, have
made the jetty system a grand success. It is not
necessary to recapitulate here the controversy which,
in the newspapers as well as in Congress, have agi-
tated the whole Mississippi valley concerning this
method of deepening the water at the mouth of the
great river.
The various modes which have been attempted of
increasing the depth of the channel through the
Passes have been the following :
1. Dredging. Under instructions of the War Department,
Capt. Talcott attempted in 1839 to open the Southwest Pass
with the ordinary bucket-drag. The gulf waves in a single
storm swept in " twice as much mud" as he had taken out.
2. By rake and harrow. This method was once tried under
the direction and at the expense of the government by a tow-
boat association, but their efforts were equally fruitless. The
channel was temporarily opened to a depth of eighteen feet,
but again suddenly closed by a gulf storm.
3. In 1836 the government entered into a contract with
Messrs. Craig & Righter to open a channel one thousand feet
wide and eighteen feet deep, which was to be executed by
closing all the Passes except those designated for navigation.
The contract was abandoned.
4. In 1868-70 the government caused to be constructed a
1 Craig & Righter built but one jetty, and not jetties, as ap-
pears from a foot-note to page 455, stating that "the contrac-
tors (Messrs. Craig <t Righter,) merely built one insecure jetty
of a single row of pile-planks, about a mile long."
steam propeller dredge, at a cost of three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, which was placed under the command of an
officer of the navy. This experiment was faithfully made, but
it " failed to maintain a much greater depth of water than that
which nature has prescribed as the regimen depth of the Pass."
The results of this mode were at least but temporary, and to
have been of any service would have had to be continued from
year to year, while the labors of an entire season were liable to
be destroyed at any time by a single storm.
5. By the Fort St. Philip Canal, which was strongly recom-
mended by a majority of the board of engineers appointed by
the War Department. This canal was proposed as early as
1832, since which time many surveys and reconnoissances have
been made as to its proper location, expense, and commercial
practicability.
A report of the United States board of engineers
in 1874 favored the canal scheme and opposed the
jetties, holding that the cost of producing a depth
of twenty-seven feet would be twenty-three million
dollars.
In February, 1874, James B. Eads proposed to Con-
gress to open the mouth of the river, making a depth
of twenty-eight feet, for ten million dollars, at the
entire risk of himself and his associates, not a dollar
to be paid until a depth of twenty feet was secured.
The controversy created by Capt. Eads' proposition be-
came quite warm and personal. A committee of civil
engineers was appointed to investigate the question,
and particularly the European jetties and their ef-
fects.
The result of their investigation was favorable to
the jetties, and on March 3, 1875, the President
signed the bill entering into a contract with Capt. Eads
to deepen the mouth of the river. South Pass, which
had previously had a depth of nine feet, was chosen,
and work begun in June, 1875. By May, 1876, when
very little work had been done, it was found that one
million nine hundred thousand cubic yards of material
had been scoured out, and that the minimum depth
was 16.9 feet. Even with this showing many persons
still failed to have confidence in the jetties, and stories
of new bars, mud, lumps, etc., were told almost every
day in the local press. In November, 1877, the
dredge-boat " Bayley" was used in scouring the
channel of the jetties.
A survey made Dec. 15, 1877, showed a channel
twenty-two feet deep, and more than two hundred
feet wide, existing from the deeper water in South
Pass to the deeper water in the gulf. On this show-
ing the first award of five hundred thousand dollars,
under the contract made between Eads and the gov-
ernment, was paid over to him. Work was continued
on the jetties in 1877 and 1878, in which year it was
completed, the concrete and crib-work at the sea ends
being erected.
The following table will show the depth in the
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1051
channel at ten thousand feet from East Point, the
worst part of the Pass, at various times :
June, 1875 9.2 feet.
May, 1876 15 "
August, 1876 19.8 "
July, 1877 20.3 "
June, 1878 21.9 "
February, 1879 22.2 feet.
March, 1879 24.8 "
June, 1879 28 "
July, 1879 30.5 "
In the summer of 1881 the least depth in the
channel in South Pass, not in the jetties, was 26 } feet,
97,000 feet above East Point and at Bayou Grande ;
and 29 feet at Picayune Bayou, and at a point 90,000
feet above East Point. At no point in the jetties
proper is the depth of channel less than 30 J feet.
James B. Eads, whose name is permanently asso-
ciated with three gigantic enterprises, — the building
of the jetties, the construction of the gunboat fleet
at St. Louis during the war, and the erection of the
great bridge across the Mississippi, — may justly be
regarded as one of the foremost engineers of his day,
and it is quite within bounds to say that no man has
ever surmounted greater mechanical difficulties or
wrested a larger measure of success from doubtful
and hostile conditions. Two of the three great ex-
periments whose practicability he so signally demon-
strated may be classed among the wonders of the
age, for it is a matter of history that the construc-
tion both of the Mississippi bridge and jetties was
regarded by leading engineers and scientific men as
impracticable, dangerous, and altogether beyond the
limits of reasonable calculation. With that un-
bounded faith in the correctness of his own judg-
ment and that indomitable courage and endurance
which have ever been recognized as the first essen-
tials to success in all great undertakings, Capt. Eads
maintained his position in the face of criticism, de-
traction, personal abuse, and determined professional
hostility working through various channels, and at
last, by sheer pluck and persistence, fully vindicated
the soundness of his views and covered his critics
with confusion.
Capt. Eads was born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., May
23, 1820, and his early education was acquired in
the schools of Louisville and Cincinnati. Before he
had succeeded in mastering the rudiments, however,
his father experienced reverses which necessitated his
withdrawal from school, to which he never returned.
At a very early age he developed a taste for mechan-
ics and a fondness for experimenting with machinery,
which was afterwards to become the ruling passion of
his wonderful career. Among the anecdotes related
of him is one to the effect that when only nine years
old, having embarked on an Ohio River steamboat,
he exhibited such an intelligent interest in the engine
that the engineer volunteered to explain to him the de-
tails of its mechanism and operation, finding in him an
absorbed and quickly responsive pupil. Four years
later the boy was able to construct a miniature work-
ing steam-engine without assistance.
In September, 1833, when only thirteen years of
age, he arrived in St. Louis under very unpropitious
circumstances, the steamboat on which his father
with his family had embarked to seek a home farther
West having been burned, thus rendering the family
destitute. In order to contribute something to the
common fund, young Eads sold apples on the street,
and succeeded not only in providing for his own sup-
port but also in assisting his mother. After a while
he obtained a position with a mercantile firm, the
senior partner of which, Barrett Williams, having
discovered his mechanical tastes and aspirations, gave
him free access to his library, where he eagerly em-
braced the opportunity to study mechanics, machin-
ery, and civil engineering. After spending some time
in this occupation he obtained a position as clerk on
a steamboat, which he retained two years, and during
this period obtained a valuable fund of information
concerning the great river whose restless current he
was afterwards to bridle and control at will. In 1842
he entered into a partnership with Case & Nelson,
boat-builders, for the purpose of recovering steam-
boats and cargoes which had been wrecked or sunk
1052
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
in the river. At first the operations of the firm were
limited, their machinery and appliances being very
primitive and quite inadequate to the work which
they undertook to perform. Such were the energy,
versatility, and industry of Capt. Eads, however, that
the business rapidly expanded, until, in the space of
about ten years, it extended the entire length of the
Mississippi, and the property of the firm had increased
to half a million dollars. In 1845, Capt. Eads sev-
ered his relations with Messrs. Case & Nelson and
established a factory for the manufacture of glass-
ware. To Capt. Eads belongs the credit of having
made the first glassware west of the Mississippi.
The enterprise not proving remunerative, however, he
returned to his old business of recovering steamboat
property, etc., from the river.
In the winter of 1855-56, Capt. Eads submitted
to Congress a proposition to keep the Western rivers
open for a term of years by removing all obstructions
and keeping the channels free. A bill embodying
his proposal passed the House of Representatives, but
was defeated in the Senate. In 1857 he retired from
active business on account of ill health, but on the
breaking out of the war his large and varied expe-
rience in navigating the Mississippi and its tributaries,
his thorough knowledge of those rivers, his immense
industry and energy, and his almost intuitively sound
judgment were promptly placed at the disposal of the
Union government. While a stanch supporter of the
war measures of the Lincoln administration, Capt.
Eads by no means approved the enforcement of harsh
and arbitrary measures of coercion, and, as elsewhere
narrated, at a crisis when peculiar courage was re-
quired to assume such a position, took strong ground
against the levying of contributions on Southern sym-
pathizers, and headed a movement for raising a fund
to take the place of that which the military authori-
ties had determined to exact from alleged friends of
the Confederacy in St. Louis. When the government
took into consideration the feasibility of forming a
gunboat fleet on the Mississippi, Capt. Eads was
summoned to Washington for consultation, and in
pursuance of his advice the construction of a number
of ironclads was undertaken. Capt. Eads received
the contract for building the first seven of these ves-
sels, and accomplished the gigantic task with con-
spicuous ability and success. His labors in this con-
nection have already been fully set forth in this work
in the chapter on the civil war.
Capt. Eads' next great feat was the construction of
the bridge across the Mississippi. He was the origi-
nator and creator of this vast enterprise, and as its
chief engineer personally superintended the prosecution
of the work, — a work attended by innumerable diffi-
culties, delays, and embarrassments, — which he con-
ducted to a triumphant consummation by the steady
and persistent exercise of his rare energy and in-
domitable will.
Even when most actively engaged with the multi-
farious duties of this grave trust, and weighted down
with its responsibilities, he found time and thought
to give to the important problem of securing a suffi-
cient depth of water at the mouth of the Mississippi
for vessels of the largest draught. After long and
mature deliberation he came to the conclusion that
the only practicable method of securing this object
was by an elaborate and costly system of jetties,
which he defines as being " simply dikes or levees
under water, . . . intended to act as banks to the
river to prevent its expanding and diffusing itself as
it enters the sea. It is a notable fact that where the
banks of a river extend boldly out into the sea no bar
is formed at the entrance. It is where the banks or
fauces terrx (jaws of earth) are absent, as is the case
in delta-forming rivers, that the bar is an invariable
feature. The bar results from the diffusion of the
stream as it spreads out fan-like in entering the sea.
The diffusion of the river being the cause, the remedy
manifestly lies in contracting it or in preventing the
diffusion."
In 1852 a board of engineers composed of Maj.
Chase and Capts. Barnard and Beauregard, of the
army, and Capt. Latimer, of the navy, recommended
that in order to increase the depth of water at the
mouth of the Mississippi the process of stirring up
the bottom of the river by suitable machinery be
tried, and that if this failed, dredging by buckets be
employed. If both failed, they recommended that
jetties be constructed at the Southwest Pass, to be ex-
tended annually into the gulf as experience should
show to be necessary. Should it then be needed, they
advised that the lateral outlets should be closed, and,
finally, if all these expedients failed, that a ship-canal
might be resorted to.
Dredging, as we have seen, was tried without suc-
cess, and repeated experiments with other plans re-
sulted in nothing until, in 1875, Capt. Eads began the
construction of his jetty works, the contract having
been awarded to James Andrews & Co. within two
months after the passage by Congress of the act
authorizing the experiment. On the 23d of March,
1875, a complimentary banquet in honor of Capt.
Eads was given by leading citizens of St. Louis at the
Southern Hotel, at which the mayor of the city pre-
sided. In the course of an address on this occasion
Capt. Eads said, —
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1053
" If the profession of the engineer were not based upon exact |
science, I might tremble for the result, in view of the immensity
of the interests which are dependent upon my success. But j
every atom that moves onward in the river, from the moment it
leaves its home and crystal springs or mountain snows, through-
out the fifteen hundred leagues of its devious pathway, until it I
is finally lost in the vast waters of the gulf, is controlled by laws
as fixed and certain as those which direct the majestic march
of the heavenly spheres. Every phenomenon and apparent
eccentricity of the river, its scouring and depositing action, its
curving banks, the formation of the bars at its mouth, the
effect of the waves and tides of the sea upon its currents and ,
deposits, are controlled by laws as immutable as the Creator, and
the engineer needs only to be assured that he does not ignore
the existence of any of these laws to feel positively certain of
the result he aims at. I therefore undertake the work with a
faith based upon the ever constant ordinances of God himself,
and so certain as He will spare my life and faculties for two
years more, I will give to the Mississippi River, through His
grace and the application of His laws, a deep, open, safe, and
permanent outlet to the sea."
That this prediction of Capt. Eads, so confidently
uttered, was no empty boast or over-sanguine declara-
tion has been amply demonstrated by the magnificent
success which has crowned his labors. At the present
time the largest ocean vessels sail in and out the
mouth of the river without danger or difficulty, and to
the energy, skill, and wonderful prescience of James
B. Eads is due the completion of a work of improve-
ment which has already contributed immensely to the
prosperity of the Mississippi valley.
Capt. Eads' fertile brain is never at rest, and is con-
stantly employed in devising great enterprises. Of
these the most conspicuous in recent years is a plan
for the construction of a railway for the transportation
of ships across the isthmus of Panama, thus obviating
the necessity for the proposed ship-canal, — a scheme
which he has advocated with characteristic ardor and
great ability, and which is still fresh in the public mind.
In the summer of 1875 the Scientific American sug-
gested his name as a candidate for President of the
United States, and the nomination was indorsed by a
number of leading journals throughout the country
as being that of a man whose genius, experience, and
wonderful achievements eminently fitted him for so
exalted a station. Capt. Eads, however, has no politi-
cal aspirations, and can well afford to rest content with
the laurels he has earned.
In 1845 he married Martha N., daughter of Patrick
M. Dillon, of St. Louis (who died in 1852), and subse-
quently his present wife, Mrs. Eunice S. Eads. He
has five daughters, three of whom are married respec-
tively to John A. Ubsdell, of New York, and Estill
McHenry and James F. How, of St. Louis.
In recognition of his achievements in his profession
the Missouri State University conferred the degree of
67
LL.D. on Capt. Eads, and the St. Louis Academy of
Sciences twice elected him its president. Besides
these positions he has filled many other offices of trust
and honor in various important corporations, among
which may be mentioned the National Bank of the
State of Missouri, the St. Louis, Kansas City and
Northern Railway, the St. Charles Bridge Company,
and the Third National Bank.
In St. Louis Capt. Eads enjoys the universal respect
and esteem of the community, which is justly proud
of one whose career has been almost without a parallel
in this country, and whose success in the face of
herculean difficulties has extorted the admiration of
even his opponents.
The Harbor of St. Louis. — Almost coincidently
with the arrival of the first steamboat at St. Louis in
1817 a sand-bar formed in the bend at the lower end
of the town, which gradually extended up as far as
Market Street, making a naked beach at low water.
Another bar soon formed in the river at the upper
end of the city, west of Bloody Island. Thus, at
the very outset of the commercial progress of St.
Louis, the current of the Mississippi, cutting deeper
and deeper into the American Bottom on the eastern
side of Bloody Island, was threatening the city with
the diversion of its channel to the east side of the
island, leaving St. Louis " high and dry," with a
sand-bar in front of it.
In this crisis it was generally predicted that the
city would amount to nothing in a commercial point
of view, and the timid refused to make investments
in real estate, fearing that the town would be left
without the facility of availing itself of the benefits
which the new steam system of navigation prom-
ised.1
1 " Pursuant to the notice given by the Board of Aldermen,
November 20th," says the Republican of Dec. 4, 1832, "a large
number of our most respected citizens assembled last evening,
at an early hour, in the city hall, to consider the propriety
of taking measures for the removal of the sand-bar in front of
the city. The meeting was called to order by Mr. P. Ferguson,
and on motion, Thornton Griinsley, Esq., was called to the
chair, and Nathan Ranney was appointed secretary.
"The meeting was addressed in a plain and lucid manner by
the following gentlemen i Hon. James H. Peck, P. Ferguson,
Mr. Tabor, A. L. Maginnis, Mr. McKee, J. F. Darby, W. K.
Rule, R. Simpson, and Thomas Cohe, when a report of a com-
mittee previously appointed by the board of aldermen to examine
the channel of the river was called for and ordered to be read.
" On motion of J. F. Darby, seconded by R. Simpson, it was
resolved that a committee of seven gentlemen be appointed to
draft resolutions expressive of the sense of this meeting, where-
upon the chair named the following gentlemen to constitute the
said committee: A. L. Maginnis, Gen. Bernard Pratte, James
Clemens, G. Paul, A. Gamble, G. Morton, and J. F. Darby,
Esqs.
1054
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
In 1833 the city authorities, becoming alarmed for
the commercial prosperity of the city, undertook the
removal of the sand-bars, and with that view em-
ployed John Goodfellow to plow them up with ox-teams
and plows, thus loosening the sand, which high water
was expected to wash away. The idea was suggested
by Col. Thomas F. Riddick, and the means were sup-
plied by Gen. Bernard Pratte and some other wealthy
citizens. About three thousand dollars was expended
in the plowing process without making any impression
upon the sand-bar.
Steamboats had grounded, and could not land as
high up as Olive Street, and daily indications were
given that the river would ultimately sweep around
to the eastern side of Bloody Island and leave the ,
Missouri shore.
The mayor of St. Louis in 1835 was John F.
Darby, who, fully realizing the danger that threatened
the present and future welfare of the city, induced
the Board of Aldermen to petition Congress for aid
to improve and construct the harbor of St. Louis.
The representative of St. Louis in Congress at that
time was Gen. William H. Ashley,1 who by constantly
urging the committee of the House of Representatives
to which the petition was referred, of which Patrick
Henry Pope, from the Louisville, Ky., district was
chairman, finally secured the reporting of a bill recom-
mending the improvement of the harbor, and appro-
priating one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for
that purpose. Col. Thomas H. Benton, then in the
United States Senate, hampered and hindered by his
"After the committee had retired fora short time it returned,
and submitted the following resolutions, which were unani-
mously adopted :
"1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the in-
crease of the sand-bar opposite this city would be alike injuri-
ous to its health and commercial prosperity.
" 2. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the course
pursued by the corporate authorities of this city for the removal j
of the grievance complained of is justly deserving of and hereby
receives its decided support, and that this meeting cordially
approve of the city authorities effecting said removal by pro-
curing funds for such object, whether by loan or otherwise, and
that they also concur in requesting the corporate authorities to
solicit the aid of the State and general government therefor."
1 Gen. Ashley was warmly attached" to the people of St. Louis,
where he had lived so long and had so many devoted friends.
This circumstance gave great encouragement and hope. His
daring adventures, perils, and enterprises in the Rocky Moun-
tains, whereby he had accumulated great wealth, the elegance
of his entertainments at Washington, and his gentlemanly bear-
ing, all had given him a position of commanding influence, and
made him one of the most popular men in the House of Repre-
sentatives; and although he was no speaker himself, his pleas-
ant demeanor and his genial manner were so winning, that a
dozen members of eloquence and ability on the floor were always
ready to spring to their feet and advocate his measures.
allegiance to the Democratic party, which, since Gen.
Jackson's veto of the Lexington and Maysville road
bill, had opposed all internal improvements by the
general government, could not very zealously advocate
the bill for the improvement of St. Louis harbor,
though he offered no opposition to its passage.2
The work of preserving the harbor of St. Louis
was to be done under the supervision of Gen. Charles
Gratiot. Mayor Darby immediately opened corre-
spondence with Gen. Gratiot, urging him to visit St.
Louis and examine the harbor. This visit was made,
and the river fully examined. Gen. Gratiot was in-
troduced by Mayor Darby to the Board of Aldermen,
on which occasion the Hon. Wilson Priinm, then presi-
dent of the board, addressed him in happy terms,
alluding to his association and connection with the
city and its inhabitants.
Gen. Gratiot, immediately upon his return to
Washington, sent Lieut. Robert E. Lee to St. Louis,
charged with the immediate supervision of the work
of preserving the harbor. This was in 1837, and the
work was continued by Lieut. Lee, with Henry Kay-
ser as his assistant, until 1839, when the appropria-
tion made by Congress was exhausted.
In December, 1837, Lieut. Lee wrote as follows
concerning the St. Louis harbor :
"The appropriation for the improvement of the harbor has
for its object the removal of a large sand-bar occupying, below
the city, the former position of the main channel of the Missis-
sippi, which, gradually augmenting for many years, has now
become an island of more than two hundred acres in extent, and
reaching from the lower part of St. Louis to two miles below.
The extensive shoals formed around its base extend on the east
to the middle of the river, and connecting with the mainland
on the west afford at low water a dry communication between.
A flat bar projects from the upper end to the foot of Bloody Is-
land, opposite the town, which at low stages of the river presents
an obstacle to the approach of the city, and gives reason to appre-
hend that at some future day this passage may be closed. This
is rendered more probable by the course of the river above. The
united waters of the Missouri and Mississippi for some miles
below their junction sweep with great velocity along the Illi-
nois shore, where they are deflected to the other side. The
1 In 1847, Col. Benton wrote a letter to the St. Louis delega-
tion to the Chicago Internal Improvement Convention, defining
his position upon the question of internal improvements, say-
ing, " I have always been a friend of that system, but not to
its abuses ; and here lies the difficulty, the danger, and the
stumbling-block to its success. Objects of general and national
importance can alone claim the aid of the Federal government;
and in favor of such objects I believe all the departments of the
government to be united. Confined to them, and the Constitu-
tion can reach them and the treasury sustain them : extended
to local or sectional objects, and neither the Constitution nor the
treasury could uphold them. National objects of improvement
are few in number, definite in character, and manageable by
the treasury ; local and sectional objects are innumerable and
indefinite and ruinous to the treasury."
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1055
main body, passing west of Cascarot (now Cabaret) Island,
joins with the lesser portion at its foot, and the whole is com-
pressed in a narrow gorge (opposite Bissell's Point). Spreading
out in the wide area below, the main current still keeps to the
Missouri shore, while a large part of the river directed toward
the Illinois side is fast wearing away its bank and cutting out
a large channel east of Bloody Island. . . . The two channels
again uniting at the foot of Bloody Island, the whole body of
water sweeps down the Illinois shore, and, its velocity becoming
aijain increased by the narrowing of its bed, the abrasion of its
bottom recommences, all the deep water being here on the Il-
linois side and all the shoal on that of Duncan Island. . . .
But in order to arrest the wearing away of the eastern bank of
the river and to protect the Illinois shore, it will be necessary to
divert from it the force of the current. This may be done by
running a dike from above the small slough on that side, par-
allel with the western shore, sufficiently far to throw the water
west of Bloody Island. . . , The same effect would be produced
by throwing a dam across directly from the head of Bloody Is-
land to the Illinois shore. ... In addition to these works, the
head of Bloody Island will have to be protected, from its head
to the centre, so as to secure it from the action of the current."
The report also recommended a dike extending
down stream from the foot of Bloody Island. In the
following year Capt. Lee reported the commencement
of the work, and said that, with the small part of the
work actually completed, about seven hundred feet of
Duncan Island had been washed off.
The work under Lieut. Lee during two years turned
the current of the Mississippi back to the Missouri side,
washed out the sand-bars, and deepened the water in
the harbor, but dikes were required to be built to pre-
serve and protect what had already been accomplished.
Dr. William Carr Lane succeeded to the mayoralty
of St. Louis in 1839, and the city authorities, without
assistance or aid from any quarter, continued the work
in the improvement of the harbor under the direction
of the able assistant of Lieut. .Lee, Henry Kayser.
But they were harassed and annoyed by injunctions of
certain parties in Illinois ; and the mayor and some of
his subordinates were indicted on account of the work
being done on the Illinois shore by some of the public
functionaries of that State, from which, so long as the
work was under the direction of the general govern-
ment, they were exempt. Still the work in the face
of all these trials progressed.1
"- In 1846-47 the St. Louis authorities and the owners of the
land on the Illinois side projected a dike, and agreed to extend
it from the west side of Bloody Island to the main Illinois shore
near where Vaughan's dike now is. It was begun in 1847, and
prosecuted at great expense, which was borne exclusively by St.
Louis.
In September, 1848, Governor French, of Illinois, directed
the State's attorney at Belleville to ask the court there for an
injunction against the work on the dike, which was yet incom-
plete. The injunction was asked and granted on the ground of
the invasion by St. Louis of the State rights of Illinois.
An appeal was taken by St. Louis to the Supreme Court of the
In 1840, Mr. Darby was again elected mayor, and
the wo»k on the harbor was continued by the city
government. The application was renewed to Con-
gress for aid in behalf of the city, for further appro-
priations to continue the harbor improvements, but
without success. The work was continued by the city
for about fifteen years, under the supervision and man-
agement at first of Henry Kayser, and subsequently
of Gen. S. B. Curtis.
In 1844, Capt. T. J. Cram, United States Corps of
Topographical Engineers, wrote as follows of St. Louis
harbor :
State of Illinois. That tribunal having expressed the opinion at
its December term in 1848 that not the judiciary but the Legis-
lature could properly determine what the interest of the State of
Illinois required in the premises, the Legislature of 1848-49
was appealed to by St. Louis, in the celebrated case Illinois vs.
St. Louis. In January, 1849, a joint resolution was passed au-
thorizing the city of St. Louis to construct a highway over the
dike then in progress of construction. The work was at once
resumed, and progressed until June, 1851, when the dike and
road, made of stone and earth, near completion, were swept
away by the flood of that year. After the water abated, how-
ever, in the fall of 1851, one-fourth of a mile north of the site
of the first dike and nearly parallel, another, the present dike,
was projected. It was laid out by L. M. Kennett, mayor of St.
Louis, and the city engineer, Gen. Curtis. It was finished in
1856, in the same status in which it now is. Its cost was one
hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. The land belonged
to the Wiggins Ferry Company.
Thus the channel on this side was stopped, and by the in-
creased volume and velocity of the St. Louis channel, Duncan's
Island was removed therefrom, and the port of St. Louis re-
stored.— History of East St. Louis, by Robert A. Tyson, page 28.
The Bepublican of March 24, 1852, speaking of Duncan's
Island, said, —
" This bone of contention between this city and a number of
claimants is about to be lost among the things that were. Some
two years past the tongue of land from Duncan's Island reached
as high almost as Market Street, and while the Levee about that
point had become perfectly inaccessible to boats, the sand con-
tinued still to accumulate and the island to extend upwards.
Every one can call to mind the apprehended total ruin of the
South Levee from this cause, and property-owners in lower
St. Louis know best the disastrous consequences which such
damages would have involved. The dikes and other works
about Bloody Island have effected a thorough change in the
river at that locality. Duncan's Island having been curtailed
materially of its proportions, has become almost unrecognizable.
Two or three days since we strolled along the Levee, witnessing
the vast and costly improvements which have sprung up on every
side. We were surprised to see the head of Duncan's Island
entirely washed away and its uppermost limits removed some-
where opposite the gas-works. A large body of water fills the
slough, still washing away the island on its west side, while
the main current of the river, which strikes directly against the
head, is carrying it away at the opposite east side. The river
along the whole southern landing is more than deep enough for
the largest class of steamers. Whatever may be said of the
works in our harbor, the owners of property in South St. Louis
have had material cause to know their efficiency in averting a
great evil, for which nothing could have repaid them."
1056
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
" In so far as the general natural main tendencies of the di-
rection and force of the currents in different reaches o£the river
are being exerted, that portion of the river represented on the
chart west of Bloody Island and forming the harbor of St. Louis,
I regret to say, must be regarded in the condition of fast becom-
ing a mere slough. ... In the last six years, since the survey
of Capt. Lee was made, the abrasion east of Bloody Island has
been such as to wash away a strip three hundred feet wide and
fifty feet deep. ... It appears that in 1839, 1840, and 1841
an extent of nine hundred and twenty-five feet of the dike
recommended by Capt. Lee was constructed, extending from the
foot of Bloody Island, in order to wash away the bar, costing
about forty-six thousand dollars, when the work was stopped
for want of funds and left to its fate, before it had been carried
to one-half of Capt. Lee's estimated cost. Of all the piles that
were driven, only forty-two could be found standing in Novem-
ber, 1843. The work seems to have been constructed by driv-
ing two rows of piles from twenty to forty feet apart and distant
in the same row from each other six to ten feet, and the space
between the rows of piles filled with brush and stone, battened
from the piles outwards, one foot in three. The idea of a dam
directly across from the head of Bloody Island to the Illinois
shore seems to have been abandoned, and the oblique dike
commenced starting from the Illinois shore near Venice, and
extending in the direction as recommended in Capt. Lee's re-
port. The funds for this work were furnished by the city of St.
Louis, and executed at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars, ex-
clusive of machinery. Commencing at the upper extremity of
this work, about twelve hundred feet have sunk four and a quar-
ter feet below its original level or been swept away by ice and
drift or by the force of the current. There for an extent of
eleven hundred feet it has either been swept entirely away or
sunk eleven feet below its original level. In the next reach of
four hundred and thirty-five feet it has either been swept away
or sunk nine and a quarter feet. In all the remainder of the
work, twelve hundred and sixty-five feet, quite to its lowest
extremity, where it extended into the strongest part of the cur-
rent, it must have been swept away or sunk fifteen feet below
its original level. Throughout the whole of this dike there
are but few piles found standing. The city has also expended
about eleven thousand six hundred and seventeen dollars in the
construction of cross-dikes of stone, thrown without piles or
brush, to protect the west bank of Bloody Island from abrasion.
It is observable that in most of these cross-dikes, which were
extended from the shore perpendicular to the thread of the
stream, the water has cut into the bank on their down-stream
sides, in virtue of a current setting along the lower face of the
dike directly into the bank. Also the bed of the stream has
immediately below the dikes been made deeper by the plunge
of water passing over their summits, as is always the tendency
under the fall over a waste weir."
Capt. Cram quotes from the reports of Capt. Lee,
in 1840, to show what had been the effect of the
work begun in 1837. The report said, —
" The pier on the Illinois shore (i.e., from Venice south) has
served to throw the main body of water west of Bloody Island,
which has cut a broad and deep channel through the flat shoal
that extended from the head of Bloody Island to the Missouri
shore. As this channel enlarges that east of the island diminishes,
and between the pier and head of Bloody Island is becoming more
and more shoal. The pier from the foot of Bloody Island con-
fines the water to the Missouri shore, and directs the current
against the head of Duncan Island. A large portion of the
head and eastern face of this island has been washed away
during the past year. The deep water now extends close to it,
and admits the largest boats to the lower wharf of the city.
The depth of the river on the Illinois side is diminishing. . . .
Both piers, however, require to be finished. The upper ought
to be strengthened and extended down the river and the lower
completed."
The appropriations recommended, however, were
not made, and the work went to pieces. Capt. Cram
says (1844),—
" Had ample means been appropriated and expended accord-
ing to the views of that officer, in all probability the harbor
would have needed little more, except to fill up for the subse-
I quent settling of the work, the damage occurring from ice,
abrasion, and driftwood. These would have cost considerably
more than generally supposed, but I think that plan, if pur-
sued to completion and to have been successful, would ulti-
mately have resulted in a completely connected work, extending
from near the foot of Kerr's Island quite to the head of Bloody
Island, then along the west shore of that island by a revetment
to connect with the dike, making two miles of dike-work, one
mile of revetment, and nine hundred and twenty-five feet of
dike." . . .
The report of the city engineer in March, 1846,
stated that in 1842 the lower part of the harbor was
so obstructed by bars that the ferry-boat was com-
pelled to land at the foot of Vine Street. In the
winter of 1845-46, although the water was two feet
lower than had ever been known before, the boat
could use her landing at the foot of Market Street,
showing a decided improvement instead of impairment
of the wharf front, as had been charged by parties hos-
tile to the plan of the city extending the dikes at
Hazel and Mulberry Streets. He further said, —
" The improvement of the harbor requires, first, a regular
shore on the Missouri side, which in time will be afforded by
the improved Levee; second, a regular and nearly parallel shore
on the Illinois side; third, regulation of the bed of the river
above the city so as to direct the water into the channel under
favorable conditions. The first is the work of the city, the latter
two are and should be in the hands of the United States."
Congress at this time seemed entirely willing to
make what at that time would have been considered
liberal appropriations for the harbor of St. Louis and
other public works, but all bills of this character were
consistently vetoed by President Polk. As a result
of the vetoes the question of internal improvements
became a political issue of no little importance in the
Northwest and West. Additional appropriations be-
ing unobtainable, inquiry was made as to what had
become of the unexpended appropriation of 1844.
From all that can now be ascertained the balance,
twenty-two thousand seven hundred and nine dollars,
was never expended.
The controversy, already alluded to, with the Illinois
authorities in regard to the river-front of East St.
Louis being happily ended by the joint resolution of
the Illinois Legislature, the construction of the dike
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1057
opposite Duncan's Island was resumed in the spring of
1851. The river was then five thousand two hun-
dred feet in width opposite the lower part of the city,
and it was proposed to narrow it to eighteen hundred
feet. In 1852, chiefly as a result of the efforts to
close Bloody Island chute, which had not then fully
succeeded, the east side had been removed until the
island extended but five hundred feet east of the pro-
posed wharf line. A small strip of the island was
joined to the main land by cross-dikes in 1852-53. *
From that time and up to 1866 the chute west of
the island was unnavigable. In 1866 the city engi-
neer advocated straightening the river from the city
to Carondelet by a front line passing through the
island. About this time the west chute became the
main channel, and the wharf line was left as estab-
lished in 1864 to the then city limits at Keokuk
Street. As this line ended seven hundred and fifty
feet from the shore, its adoption involved the widen-
ing of the chute by washing away the west side of
the island. Several small spur-dikes were pushed out
from the Missouri shore behind the island previous to
1858, but not far enough to exert any controlling in-
fluence during the time when it was uncertain which
plan would finally be adopted. After the extension
of the city in 1870, absorbing the old town of Caron-
delet, the extension of the line in front of the newly-
acquired territory was brought forward, and a project
submitted by the city engineer accepting the line as
then established by ordinance, nearly in the middle of
the channel, affording an opportunity to make many
blocks of ground.
The project of making the west chute the perma-
nent channel was acquiesced in by all. The board of
engineers in their report of April 13, 1872, had in-
dorsed it to the extent of saying by implication that
the United States should close the eastern channel if
observation showed danger of the river leaving the
channel to the west. Before this proposed extension
of the wharf line was formally laid before the City
Council, an ordinance was passed ordering the con-
struction of a dike at the foot of Bryan Street. As
no necessity was apparent for this dike, it is not un-
reasonable to suppose that it was moved and passed
with a view chiefly to. commit the city to the proposed
1 The Republican of Feb. 25, 1874, gives the following as the
measurements of the river: "At the foot of Pine Street it is
1560 feet wide; foot of Wash Street, 1500 feet; at Biddle Street,
1500 across to Bloody Island ; North Market to the main shore
below the dike, 3900; Warren Street to the end of the long
dike, before the government commenced work, 2380 feet wide;
to the shore below the dike, 3500 feet; from Destrehan to
the Venice Ferry landing, 2580 feet; from Angelica Street to
Bishoff's dike, 1450 feet."
line. Work on this dike was prosecuted so vigor-
ously that the first intimation of its commencement
to many was the complaint made by boatmen that the
channel was obstructed, but the work had progressed
far enough to cross the main channel, which had been
along the main Missouri shore. The work being
done in the spring, or at the season when the general
tendency of the river is to rise, the conditions were
unfavorable to the ostensible purpose of the dike,
which was to compel the washing away of the west
side of the island.
As the stage of water afforded a free discharge of
the obstructed water by way of the eastern chute,
that channel was deepened, and eventually became the
main channel.
Growing out of the discussion which followed the re-
turn of the channel to Cahokia chute, an urgent demand
for the closure of that chute was made by all parties
interested, for once all agreeing in desiring this action,
and a survey was made by United States engineers in
the summer of 1874, with special reference to this
matter. The construction of a dam across Cahokia
Creek was authorized by Congress. The act of Con-
gress making appropriations for this dam specifically
limits it to a low dam, although it was clearly stated
in the report that as such it would necessarily fail to
accomplish all the requirements of the case.
Very little has actually been done towards the per-
manent improvement of the harbor below the arsenal.
The plans contemplate considerable reclamations of
ground from the river, which must be a slow process.
These proposed reclamations extend from above the
arsenal to near Dover Street, from Fillmore to Stein
Street, and from Stein Street nearly to Jefferson
Barracks. When complete the alignment of the wharf
south will be convex from Market Street to Bryan,
a distance of sixteen thousand feet, and concave from
there to Jefferson Barracks, thirty-six thousand feet.
On the east side of the river the corrected width is
defined only at the Illinois and St. Louis Railroad
dike, opposite Chouteau Avenue and opposite Marine
Avenue, by the revetment of part of Arsenal Island,
opposite Carondelet, by the incline of the East St.
Louis and Carondelet Railroad, by the Waterloo Ferry
dike and the coal-dump of the St. Louis and Cairo
Narrow-Gauge Railroad. Farther down the United
States dikes for the improvement of Horsetail Bar,
with two thousand four hundred feet of partially-
constructed training-wall, are steps toward the defin-
ition of a line extending to the head of Carroll Island.
Arsenal Island belongs to the city of St. Louis,
having been purchased from the school board for
thirty-three thousand dollars in 1866. It was pat-
1058
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
ented to the school board in 1864 by J. M. Edmunds,
commissioner of the general land office at Washing-
ton. All of the land within the island previous to
this time was known as " Quarantine Island," and
sometimes called Arsenal Island. The total number
of acres contained in the island at that time was 119.57.
The deed to the city was signed by Felix Coste, pres-
ident of the school board, and George M. Fitchten-
kamp, secretary. During the civil war the upper
portion of the island was used as a burial-ground by
the government. After the city got possession it
was used for a smallpox hospital. Many of the old
graves, not otherwise removed, were washed away by
the encroachments of the river.
Going back to the surveys, the first shore line we
have a record of (in 1862) was opposite the north line
of the arsenal. The head of the island moved down
three hundred feet by 1865, in which year the main
channel was on the east side of the island. At that
time one could go from the St. Louis side to the head
of the island on a sand-bar during low water, from
October to about March. The next survey was made
in 1874, when it was found that the head of the
island had moved down one thousand three hundred
feet from the survey of 1865, making the retrocession
of the island altogether since the survey of 1862
about one thousand six hundred feet, over one-fourth
of a mile in twelve years. The survey of 1874 showed
the channel to be located on the west side, between
the island and the Missouri shore. The change of
the channel at that time was caused by dikes built
by the Cahokia Ferry Company for the purpose of
making a steam ferry-boat landing at Cahokia.
The survey of this island by City Engineer John
G. Joyce in 1880 shows that the head of the island
has moved down four thousand eight hundred feet
from the survey of 1862, nearly a mile. The chan-
nel still remains on the west side of the island. It is
interesting to remark here that the dike built by City
Engineer Moulton about 1867-68, at the foot of
Bryan Street, diverted the channel from the west to
the east side of the island, and also washed the head
of the island down some three thousand feet. A cor-
respondence sprang up about that time between the
Governor of Illinois and Mayor Brown in reference
to the Bryan Street dike, the Governor opposing the
construction of the dike on account of the damage
that would accrue to the farmers on the Illinois side
in consequence of diverting the current to the Illi-
nois shore ; the result was that the building of the dike
was stopped, and the general government had to erect
a dike from Arsenal Island to the Illinois shore from
the upper eastern shoulder of the island.
The survey of Mr. Joyce shows the acreage of Ar-
senal Island to be 247.32 acres. The revetment
made by the United States government engineers
along the west shore, extending from a little below
the northern apex towards the southern extremity,
with revetment and dike on the east shore, would
justify the conclusion that there will be little, if any,
washing away in the future ; but, on the contrary, a
steady increase. The dike which was built on the
east side some two or three years ago, above alluded
to, has already formed a sand-bar on its south and ad-
joining the island of some two hundred and sixteen
acres, which will steadily increase by accretion. This
in time will be as high as the island proper. The
dike is bound to obstruct the current forever on that
side, and its being built on a foundation of brushwood
fastened by piling and the whole imbedded with rock,
justifies the belief that it is a permanent fixture.
The improvements of the harbor of St. Louis have
passed through two stages. The first, arising out of
a difficulty in the way of approach to the harbor,
has already been considered. This difficulty stood also
in the way of all the commerce passing St. Louis, and
therefore the improvement was in no proper sense a
local one. The second stage dates from about 1841
or 1843, and is marked by the addition to the former
difficulty of an apprehension that the harbor would
be entirely lost; not only that the main channel would
be to the eastward of the island, but that the Missouri
shore would speedily become inaccessible to boats.
Upon the authority of Capt. Cram, it appears that
the volume of water in 1843 west of the island was
to that east of it as ten to six. In December, 1845,
the same officer says, the quantity running into the
city channel was to the quantity running into the Il-
linois as 1 is to 1.01. These changes rendered the
closure of the chute east of Bloody Island a necessity
to St. Louis, and the hope of being benefited by the
misfortune of their rival accounts for the interest taken
by Alton and Quincy in the matter of closing the chute
much more satisfactorily than the pretended fear of
injury from back-water caused by forcing the Missis-
sippi to pass through a channel only four hundred and
fifty yards wide.
In the years following the closure of the Bloody
Island channel no matter of general interest arose
until by the growth of the city and its trade the ex-
tension of wharf facilities was required, and a third
stage in the development of the demand for harbor
improvement was introduced by the necessities of the
traffic across the stream, the number of persons and
railroad transfers requiring that both shores should be
permanently accessible at numerous points.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1059
The central and south wharves have now plenty of
water. Regarding the establishment of the present
north wharf line and clearing away the bar in front of
it, the report of Col. W. E. Merrill, United States
Engineers, after showing that the Grand Chain dike
should be abandoned, as it only made matters worse at
Sawyer's Bend, has the following : " The central har-
bor being in good condition during the low stage, it is
manifest that if we can make the northern harbor like
the central we may expect the same results in it. In
other words, if we can canalize this portion of the river
to a sufficiently small section, giving it revetted banks,
we may confidently expect a sufficiency of water.
Moreover, when once this work is properly performed
we need have no further apprehensions about the
angle at which the river current enters the city
limits. It will be forced through so narrow a channel
as to make the variations of the current a matter of
indifference. If we could succeed in getting the river
to abandon the Sawyer Bend and to take the eastern
channel by Cabaret Island we would doubtless attain
our object, and a shoal extending from Venice west-
ward would ultimately narrow the water-way to the
prescribed width. But having concluded that no re-
liance could be placed upon any means under our
control for effecting this change, it only remains to
see if we cannot accomplish the same thing in a dif-
ferent manner. Our object will be to contract the
water-way in the northern harbor so as to force the
water to run in the channel which we wish, notwith-
standing it comes from Sawyer's Bend. There is a
permanent low-water channel already established in the
northern harbor, though it is not alongside the north-
ern wharf. Either the city must move to this channel
or the channel must be made to come to the city. The
former method would be more natural, and in an en-
gineering point of view would be much preferable.
Our studies have shown us that in its natural condition
a river has no right lines, passing directly from a curve
bending one way into a curve bending in the opposite
direction. If, then, the northern wharf line were
moved out to the edge of the bar and made to conform
to the curve of the channel, we should have a natu-
' i
rally formed river from below the Grand Chain to the
elevator. With shore lines thus established there
would be no difficulty in making permanent revet-
ments." After instancing a number of objections to
this course, such as the abandonment of a line on
which much work had been done, lengthening the
sewers, damages to water-front owners, etc., the engi-
neer's report says, —
"Under these circumstances the only course that :<eems left
is to force the river to come to the wharf, which the city has
established. That this can be done I have no doubt, though
the channel so formed will be an unnatural and, therefore, ex-
pensive one. ... To force the water channel over to the city
wharf we must drive it by a series of dikes. Th-j dikes already
constructed by City -Engineer Bischoff will be the first of the
system, the long dike extended will be the third, an interme-
diate dike at or near Venice Landing will be the second, and
a fourth dike may be needed at the head of Bloody Island. I
would recommend that they be raised to the height of fourteen
feet above low water." . . .
It is upon this report of Col. Merrill that the city
has based its latter-day wharf plans.1
The present United States engineers are not so san-
guine that the river can be brought to the wharf, but
think the wharf must go to the river.
According to their reports, the complete improve-
ment of the harbor of St. Louis requires, first, the
fixation of the banks above the city so as to control
the approach to the harbor and preserve the condi-
tions of entrance invariable ; second, the regulation
of the width and depth in front of the city by regu-
lar permanent lines of definition at high and low
stages.
1 The Republican of March 20, 1857, speaking of the wharf,
said, —
" The whole of this magnificent work, from Market Street to
Locust, has been completed and is now ready for use. Those
who recollect the condition of the Levee when Mr. Kennett came
into office, less than a year ago, can hardly realize the change
which it has undergone. It was then a narrow, unpaved, and
irregular spot, upon which business could be done only in the
greatest confusion and with still greater delay. A narrow street
afforded very little room for the receiving and discharging of
freight, and the drays were so jammed together that it was im-
possible to get along. Now, thanks to Mr. Kennett's sound
judgment, knowledge of the demands of commerce, and energy
in carrying out his plans, he has, with the aid of the Council,
built up and carried out a levee which has not its like in the
United States. The work before him was enough to startle a
man less bold and less confident of the ability to carry out his
plans than himself. It was necessary not only to extend the
wharf into the river, but also to fill up the ground several feet,
and upon this a solid and durable pavement was to be laid. All
this has been accomplished under circumstances of a very dis-
couraging character. Merchants can now do their business
with some comfort, the boats can discharge and receive their
freight in one-half the time and in good condition, and the
draymen can pursue their laborious calling without delay and
without being constantly jammed against each other. For this
improvement the community is indebted to Mr. Kennett. Be-
fore he came into office it was going on at a snail's pace, and
upon so narrow and contracted a plan that no advantage could
have been derived from it, even if it had been paved.
" If Mr. Kennett is continued in office — and the citizens will
do great injustice to themselves if they do not elect him without
a serious contest — seven additional blocks south of Main Street
will be completed before the end of the summer, and then what
a magnificent levee it will be ! The work is going on as rap-
idly as possible; it gives employment to hundreds of men, and
the sooner it is all completed the sooner the city will be able to
effect a reduction in the rates of wharfage."
1060
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
" The first requires the revetment of the right bank for the
whole length of Sawyer Bend, and possibly a section of the j
Illinois shore opposite to and above the Chain of Rocks, also j
the closing of Cabaret slough by a high embankment and re- j
vetment of the head of the island. Besides the work here
named it is improbable that any will be required for many years
upon that part of the city front above the water-works. The
concave bank insures the permanent location of the channel
close to the Missouri shore, and the west side of Cabaret Island
is more likely to receive accretions than suffer abrasion. There-
fore, unless by the growth of new interests or unforeseen ex-
pansion of those existing, a necessity should arise for deep water
on the east side, this part of the river may be considered the ap-
proach to the harbor, and, except the work named, may be left
to nature. The extent of bank to be revetted in Sawyer's Bend
is twenty-seven thousand feet.
" The regulated canalized river harbor will begin near the
city water-works, and the upper limit may be fixed at the pres-
ent Bischoff's dike, which now extends from the Illinois shore
to within one thousand five hundred and seventy feet of the
St. Louis wharf."
By the River and Harbor Act of 1882 it is pro-
vided
" that the unexpended sums heretofore appropriated for an ice-
harbor at St. Louis, Mo., be and the same are hereby transferred
and appropriated, to be expended, under the direction of the
Secretary of War, for the improvement of the channel of the
Mississippi River opposite the city of St. Louis, Mo., by repair-
ing and raising the low dam across the channel east of Arse-
nal Island, known as Cahokia chute, and by the construction
of such other works in or near said Cahokia chute as may bo
deemed advisable to accomplish the same purpose."
The harbor of St. Louis, extending from the Des
Peres River on the south to the northern extremity
of the city, is nearly fourteen miles in length, of
which' nearly four miles are paved, and embraces an
area of water of nearly five square miles.
The total expenditures for the improvement of the
harbor of St. Louis from Ofetober,, 1840, to April,
1869, amounted to $1,012,551.68.
Floods in the Mississippi and Tributaries, and
the Levee System. — The Mississippi River and its
tributaries drain an area above and including the Red
River as follows :
Square
Miles.
I. The Missouri River and tributaries 519,400
II. The Ohio " " " 202,400
III. The Upper Mississippi River and trib-
utaries 184,500
IV. The Arkansas and White Rivers and
tributaries 176,700
V. The Red River and tributaries 102,200
VI. The Yazoo, Obion, and Black Rivers
and tributaries 29,300
VII. The St. Francis River and tributaries.. 12,100
Total 1,226,600
The rainfall over this vast extent of country has been
carefully investigated, and forty inches has been fixed
upon as the annual downfall, which must, of course,
be carried off, either by evaporation or drainage.
Supposing, says Charles Ellet, Jr., that " from any
cause, — as the tillage of the prairies, the destruc-
tion of the vegetable growth, or the better drain-
age of the fields, — out of the forty inches of rain,
two-fifths of an inch, or nearly one per cent, of
the whole, should be discharged into the Mississippi
in the course of sixty days of flood over and above
the present discharge. If this slight increase of
the total discharge were distributed uniformly over
the whole period of sixty days of high water, it would
require that the channel of the river should be com-
petent to give vent to an increased volume equal to
two hundred and twenty thousand cubic feetjper second.
If this increased volume be retained in the channel by
levees, these levees must be raised six feet higher
than the tops of the present (1854) embankments." *
The object of the computations by which this conclu-
sion was arrived at by Mr. Ellet was to show how
sensitive is the discharge of the Mississippi River to
every variation, however inconsiderable, of the drain-
age of the country ; and to prove that if the evapo-
ration be slightly reduced, or the drainage slightly
hastened or increased by the causes which are pro-
gressing with increasing population and the extension
of cultivation, then for every fifth part of an inch
by which the total drainage is increased in the period
of high water there must be experienced an average
increase of about three feet in the heights of the
floods, unless the water can find its accustomed vents
into the swamps. This statement will aid in form-
ing some estimate of the consequences which are to
spring from the extension of society over the yet un-
peopled West, and the cultivation of the vast territory
which is drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries,
increasing the amount of water poured down the
lower Mississippi, while the population of that por-
tion of the valley is closing the accustomed outlets of
the river in the extension of the levees.
A great flood is the result of a simultaneous dis-
charge of the great tributaries which ordinarily run
off successively. The high water produced by the
Red and Arkansas Rivers, in the ordinary course of
things, has begun to subside before that of the Ohio,
Cumberland, and Tennessee comes down ; and these,
again, begin to recede before the upper Mississippi
discharges its vojume ; and this, in its turn, subsides
before the snows of the Rocky Mountains are melted
by the tardy sun in those high latitudes, and the water
has time to flow off through the three thousand miles
of channel intervening between the sources of those
distant streams and the head of the delta. It is a
1 " Mississippi and Ohio Rivers," by Charles Ellet, Jr.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1061
part of the natural order of events that these great
rivers should discharge successively. But when, under
circumstances over which there exists no control, the
ordinary order of successive discharge is changed for
a simultaneous pouring out of all the tributaries, then
comes the "year of great waters," like 1785, 1811,
1823, 1826, 1844, 1858, and 1881.
The first unusual rise of the Mississippi River of
which we have any account took place in 1542. In
March of that year, while De Soto and his followers
were at an Indian village on the western side of the
" Rio Grande," as the early Spaniards called the Mis-
sissippi, which from its elevated description indicates
the site of Helena, in Arkansas, there was a rise in
the river which covered all the surrounding country
as far as the eye could reach. In the village (repre-
sented to have been on high ground) the water rose
from five to six feet above the earth, and the roofs of
the Indian cabins were the only places of shelter.
The river remained at this height for several days,
and then subsided rapidly.
The earliest authentic account of the American
Bottom being submerged is that of the flood of 1724.
A document is to be found in the archives of Kaskaskia,
which consists of a petition to the crown of France,
in 1725. for a grant of land, in which the damage
sustained the preceding year (1724) by the rise of
the water is mentioned. The villagers were driven
to the bluffs on the opposite side of the Kaskaskia
River, their gardens and corn-fields were destroyed,
and their buildings and property much injured. We
have no evidence of its exact height, but the whole
American Bottom was submerged. This was proba-
bly in June.
There was a tradition among the old French peo-
ple many years since that there was an extraordinary
rise of the river between 1740 and 1750, but we find
no written or printed account of it.
In the year 1772 another flood came, and portions
of the American Bottom were again covered. Fort
Chartres, in 1756, stood half a mile from the Missis- j
sippi River; in 1776 it was eighty yards. Two years
after, Capt. Pittman, who surveyed the fort in 1768,
states, —
" The bank of the Mississippi next the fort is continually fall-
ing in, being worn away by the current, which has been turned
from its course by a sand-bank, now increased to a considerable
island covered with willows. Many experiments have been
tried to stop this growing evil, but to no purpose. Eight years
ago the river was fordable to the island; the channel is now
forty feet deep."
About the year 1770 the river made further en-
croachments, but in 1772, when it inundated portions
of the American Bottom, it swept away the land to
the fort and undermined the wall on that side, which
tumbled into the river. A large and heavily-timbered
island now occupies the " sand-bar" of Capt. Pittman's
time, between which and the site of the fort a slough
runs.
The next period of extreme high water was in 1785,
during which Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and large portions
of the American Bottom were submerged. Concern-
ing this great inundation we have but meagre infor-
mation. This year, however, is known in the annals
of Western history as Fannee des grandes eaux, —
the year of the great waters. In 1844 it was con-
tended by some of the old inhabitants of Kaskaskia
and Cahokia, who remembered the great flood of
1785, that the water attained a greater height then
than in the last-mentioned year. It is certain that at
Kaskaskia the water attained a greater height in 1844
than was reached in 1785. This is not predicated
upon the mere recollections of individuals, but was
ascertained from existing marks of the height of the
flood of that year after the subsidence of the water
in 1844. It was then proved that in this last-men-
tioned year the water rose two feet and five inches
above the high-water mark of 1785. The destruction
of property by this freshet was comparatively small.
The mighty stream spread over a wilderness tenanted
only by wild beasts and birds, and the few inhabitants
then residing within the range of its destructive
sweep easily escaped with small loss to the highlands.
Gen. Edgar once said that in Kaskaskia the water
rose to the surface of the door-sill of the house of the
late Robert Morrison, but that in one place, where the
court-house stood a few years since, the ground was
above the water. That season the inhabitants passed
by means of water-craft through the prairies and lakes
from Cahokia to Kaskaskia. This flood destroyed all
the crops, and did much damage about the French
villages on the American Bo.ttom.
There were high waters so as to overflow the low
grounds and fill the lakes and sloughs on the Ameri-
can Bottom at other seasons subsequent to 1785, but
none that deserve attention until that of 1811. It
was in the summer preceding the " shakes," as the
earthquakes were called.
This flood resulted in part from the annual rise of
the Missouri, as did the ones previously noticed. The
flood in the Missouri always occurs between the 15th
and 30th of June, and is caused by the snows melt-
ing in the mountains at the heads of the main Mis-
souri. In some seasons the Yellowstone, which is in
a more southern latitude, pours out a flood which
reaches St. Louis about the last of May or 1st of
June.
1062
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
In 1811 the Mississippi River commenced rising
early in May, and by the 15th the water had spread
over a large portion of the American Bottom. The
water began to subside, and by the 1st of June was
only over the banks in low places. By the 6th of
June the river again commenced rising, and continued
to rise until the 14th, when it came to a stand. At
this time the greater part of the American Bottom
was under water, and Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du
Pont, Cantien, and nearly all the settlements in the
bottom were inundated, and the inhabitants had fled
to the high lands.
The " common fields" belonging to Ste. Genevieve
were on the bottom land adjacent to the river, much
of which has since been swept away, the steamboats
now running over the same spot. The water entirely
submerged the field, and nearly covered the growing
corn. A story is still narrated by the oldest inhab-
itants that at the time of the flood some of the
panic-stricken inhabitants waited on Father Maxwell,
the village priest, to " pray away the water." It is
said he gave no direct encouragement at first, until he
perceived the water at a stand, when he proposed to
the corn-growers to drive off the waters by saying
masses for a share of all the corn they raised. The
bargain was struck, the masses were said, and the
waters suddenly retired from their fields. The ground
was soon dry and in good order, the corn looked green,
and the priest, it is said, shared in the luxuriant
crop.
There was considerable destruction of property by
this freshet, and a great many cattle drowned. The
height attained by the water during this freshet has
never been precisely ascertained. But it is believed
that the flood was not so great as that during Vannee
des grandes eaux.
The flood of 1811 was much greater than any that
followed until 1823, when a sudden change in the
temperature after a winter when the snowfall was
unprecedentedly heavy throughout the Northwest and
the fall of very heavy rains caused the Mississippi to
commence rising rapidly about the 8th of May, 1823.
It continued to rise rapidly until the 23d of the
month, when it came to a stand. At that time the
water entirely covered the American Bottom, and the
citizens of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Cantien, French Vil-
lage, Wood River, Madison, and other settlements
had been compelled to abandon their homes and seek
refuge on the bluffs and in St. Louis. The houses in
the lower part of St. Louis were surrounded by water.
The Levee was submerged, and the river rose to the
lower room in the old store at the foot of Oak Street
(then kept by John Shackford) about five feet. The
water overflowed all the low grounds about East St.
Louis.1
The loss of cattle was very great, and the farmers
suffered heavily throughout the American Bottom.
The high land about where that part of East St.
Louis known as Papstown is now built, and la bate
d renard, or the Fox Mound, which had escaped sub-
mersion during the flood of Tannee des grandes
eaux, were the only dry ground in the American
Bottom, except some mounds whose tops were of
no great extent. In this, as in the flood of 1811,
there exists no means of ascertaining the height which
the river attained, nor are there the means of as-
certaining the amount of destruction which was ac-
complished by this great freshet.
The season of 1826 was characterized by tremen-
dous rainfalls throughout the whole Northwest, and
the Mississippi was very high throughout the spring
from about the 15th of April. Towards the close of
May the river had overflowed its banks and spread for
miles over the country. By the 8th of June Cahokia,
Kaskaskia, Prairie du Pont, Cantien, and the common
fields of Ste. Genevieve were submerged. The loss
of stock and other property was very great. The in-
habitants of the " bottoms" sought refuge either on
the bluffs back in Illinois or among the hills of Mis-
souri, or in St. Louis. There is, so far as we can
ascertain, no record left of the height attained this
year by the water in the river. The river came to a
stand on the 10th of the month, and on the llth was
falling rapidly. By the 25th the river had reached
an ordinary stage, — the great flood had been lost in
the vast volume of waters of the gulf.
The winter of 1843—44 was not one of unusual
severity, though there were tremendous snow-storms
throughout the Northwest. The winter broke up
early in May, but the weather continued cool, and the
spring was characterized by the severest rain-storms
ever known in the Northwest. Early in the season
the river began to rise, and by the 1st of May was
full almost to overflowing. The population of Mis-
souri and Illinois had greatly increased, farming had
improved the soil and largely facilitated the drainage
of the land. Towns and settlements had sprung up
everywhere, and along the river-banks centres of popu-
lation had gathered and garnered great wealth.
1 Many of the citizens of St. Louis recollect when the east
bank of the river opposite Oak Street was where the island now
is, which was farther up the river and nearer the St. Louis
shore. There was a village of some twenty small houses at and
above where the dike joins the island, and a ferry of the French
fashion (two canoes with a light platform over them) crossed
the river from that village to the foot of Oak Street.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1063
When, therefore, they saw the mighty rivers bank- ,
full in April they were not alarmed ; and when on
the 3d of May the great streams began to recede, all !
fear passed away with the decline in the volume of
the waters. But thick clouds gathered, and deluges ;
of water were poured out over the face of the whole
country.1 Little brooks became swollen creeks, and
small creeks great rivers, and little rivers great floods,
all pouring into the mighty Missouri and Mississippi
their vast contributions to the overwhelming waters
that rose above the barriers which confined them and
deluged the fairest part of the great West.
By the 10th of May the river began rising, and by
the 16th the flood began to create alarm at St. Louis. ;
The Republican of the 17th of May calls it " a tre- ;
mendous flood," and adds, —
" The waters were coming down upon us from every quarter.
The Mississippi is now as high as it has been known for many
•years, and is still rising. Just above Oak Street it was last i
evening within six or eight feet of touching the curbstone.
The cellars all above the wharf are filling with water. It was
still rising last evening at the rate of twelve inches in twenty-
four hours, and this notwithstanding an immense volume of
water is pouring over the Illinois shore. The whole of the
American Bottom, from Alton to Kaskaskia, will be, we fear,
submerged. The people are deserting their homes in Illinois
towns."
The river continued to rise throughout the 18th,
19th, and 20th, reaching the doors of the stores on
Front Street north of Pine, and extending to the
Pap house on the Illinois side, a distance of two and
a half miles. The merchants on Front Street had all
been compelled to move their stock of goo'ds into the j
second stories. The waters came to a stand on the
21st, with prospects of a decline, which began rapidly
on the 23d, and continued until the river was again j
within its banks on the 7th of June. But the flood
from the Missouri was coming down. From the 3d '•
to the 10th of June there was a continued succession
of the most terrible rain-storms ever witnessed. These
tremendous rains were general throughout the North-
west. The Mississippi again commenced rising at St.
Louis on the 8ch of June. The rise was steady, though
not alarmingly rapid. The upper Mississippi, Illinois,
Missouri, Des Moines, Gasconade, Osage, Kaw, Platte,
and all the tributaries were pouring out their floods.
Steadily, slowly, but inexorably the great floods from
the prairies, hills, and mountains came sweeping down
to the lower valleys. Before the 12th of the month
the river was again breaking over the banks in places.
By the 15th the floods began to alarm the people of
the valley, and " the great flood of 1844" had com-
menced its devastations.
There were five hundred persons in St. Louis who
were driven from their homes by this flood.2
At Bon Secour there were camped, all in open camps,
one hundred and twenty-two persons. Several of these
families left their homes with from four to nine chil-
dren, and with less than fifty pounds of flour and a
small quantity of meat.
The water covered all of Illinoistown, rose above the
first story of the houses, and reached within a few
inches of the height attained in the freshets of 1823
and 1826. A considerable portion of the curbstones
on Water Street were covered, and the water was run-
ning into the lower stories of the houses of Battle Row,
corner of Laurel Street.
All the rivers above were reported to be rising, but
the principal rise was from the Missouri, said to be
the June freshet from the mountains. The Missouri,
the upper Mississippi, and the Illinois, and their trib-
utaries were overflowing their banks and rising rapidly,
spreading destruction and consternation among the in-
habitants of the bottoms, whose losses were very great.
Many of their farms were completely under water, and
their crops were entirely destroyed, and their stock
either carried off by the flood or scattered over the
country.
The Illinois River was within six inches of the high-
water mark of the great flood that occurred seventeen
years before, and at Naples it had overflowed the bank
and the streets were under water.
On June 17th the river was about six inches higher
than the water- mark of the month before. North of
Locust Street, on Front Street, and above Vine Street
the water rose over the sidewalks and into many of
the stores, forcing the merchants to carry their dam-
ageable goods into the second stories, and to place the
remainder on shelves and counters. On the 18th the
steamer " Missouri Mail" brought the alarming news
of a great rise in the Missouri, which on the 13th was
rising at St. Joseph at the rate of seven feet in twenty-
four hours.
The whole country between Weston and Glasgow
was under water. Camden Bottom was covered to a
depth of six to eight feet. The officers of the " Mail"
1 It rained continually for ten days. According to the esti-
mate made* by Dr. B. B. Brown, the quantity of rainfall was
nine inches, being a greater quantity than that of the whole of
the year 1843.
2 " Nearly all the people of Brooklyn, Venice, Cahokia, and
Six-Mile Prairie and other points along the river-banks are in
the city. In the vicinity of Anderson's Mill, in the upper part
of the city, there are upwards of fifty families and more than
two hundred persons, many of whom are destitute, and all are
without shelter, except such temporary covering as they have
been able to erect." — Republican, June 24.
1064
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
spent nearly one entire day in relieving and saving
those who were in danger, and the accounts they related
were peculiarly distressing ; quite a number of persons
were missing, many of whom were doubtless lost.
Cattle in large numbers were seen floating down
amidst the drift, their heads only visible. Many
houses were also seen floating on the flood.
The editorial of the Republican of June 19th
"We have taken some pains to ascertain with certainty the
height of the present rise in the river compared with former
freshets. We have been very unsuccessful. Within the memory
of many of the oldest inhabitants there have been three extra-
ordinary freshets, — one in 1811, one in 1823, and the last in 1826.
If there were any others, we have not been able to learn the par-
ticulars. The freshet of 1811 appears to have been the highest.
That year the Ste. Genevieve common fields, and in fact the
whole bottom, was covered with water. Boats passed with ease
to and from Ste. Genevieve to Kaskaskia. There is a great dif-
ference of opinion as to the height attained by the water in 1826.
Some say it was higher than now ; others insist that at present
the water is higher than during that year."
On Thursday, the 20th, the Mississippi was from
three to six miles wide, and in many places nine.
It covered all Front Street and the sidewalk ; it was
over the boilers in Cathcart's mill, and the steamer
" Lightner" was resting her bow against the front of
Henry N. Davis' store at the corner of Front and
Morgan Streets. The water was up along Battle Row
nearly to the door-hatches. At J. & E. Walsh's store,
corner of Vine and Front Streets, the water was up to
within about fourteen inches of the locks on the doors.
At the corner of Pine and Front Streets it was just up to
the top of the sill of the door of Mr. Collins' warehouse.
At Market Street it was between nine and ten inches
below the sill of the east door of Coons & Gallagher's
store. The lower part of the city, in the vicinity of
Mill Creek, was all submerged. The water covered
Second Street below the bridge. Mr. Stiles and most
of the people in that quarter, especially along Convent
Street, removed, and the communication was main-
tained by means of boats.
Several houses up in the direction of the dam were
several feet under water. Of course all the low lands
in Soulard's addition and St. George's were overflowed.
On the Illinois side everything was under water ;
at Cahokia the inhabitants were forced to flee to the
bluffs, and several houses in Illinoistown were moved
from their foundations, and some overturned.
The " Indiana," which made fast at the door of the
female academy, brought up from Kaskaskia the Sis-
ters of Charity at the convent and the priests con-
nected with the church at that place, and several fam-
ilies and such furniture as they had saved. The town
was from ten to twenty feet under water. Several
dwelling-houses that were most exposed to the cur-
rent of the river, together with many barns, stables,
and outhouses, were swept away.
The city engineer, about twelve o'clock on the 22d,
ascertained that the water was over the city direc-
trix, the curbstone on Front Street, east of the mar-
ket-house, three feet four inches. This gave thirty-
four feet nine inches plumb water above low-water
mark. From half-past seven o'clock on Thursday
morning until half-past seven Friday evening the rise
was seventeen inches. This was an immense and un-
paralleled rise, and can only be properly estimated
when the whole width of the river is considered. In
many places it was from ten to fifteen miles wide. In
Second Street the water extended from Hazel to the
junction of Second and Fifth -Streets, being in some
places from four to five feet deep. The low land in
front and all the low lands between Second and
Third and Fifth Streets were several feet under water.
On June 22d the editor of the RepuUican
"took a trip across the river in the row-boat ' Ripple,' a boat
which is owned and manned by a company of young gentle-
men, amateur boatmen, and had a most pleasant time of it. We
left the foot of Market Street and crossed to the ferry landing.
From thence we passed over several streets of Illinoistown, and
to ' Old Pap's house,' a mile and a half from the ferry landing.
Thence we rowed through a corn-field and an oat-field to the
railroad, passed along it some distance and through another
field to the big lake near the Pittsburgh coal-mines, a distance
of about nine miles. On our return we crossed to the east side
of Bloody Island, and passed round the head of the island.
Everywhere we witnessed the destruction of whole crops, the
year's subsistence of the farmer and his family."
For the 'twenty-four hours of Sunday, June 23d,
the water rose fourteen inches, and reached the climax
of the flood, where it remained nearly stationary until
the 28th, when it commenced receding. In order to
relieve the needs of the destitute the City Council by
ordinance placed one thousand dollars at the disposi-
tion of the mayor and other officers. The number
encamped was as follows: At Bon Secour, 122; at
Mr. Cremer's, 45 ; at John Cohen's, 18 ; at John
Sharp's, 5 ; at Game's, 21 ; at Falling Spring, 31 ; at
Edward Hebert's, 4 ; at Prairie du Pont, 41 ; at Jo-
seph Boismenen's, 40; at the Grand Marias Pass, 40
families.
The water continued to recede with great rapidity.
By the middle of July the river had reached an or-
dinary stage. The weather became settled, the
atmosphere void of moisture. July, August, and
September proved very dry, and before the close of the
season the river had reached an exceedingly low stage.1
1 The following interesting account of the great flood of 18-14
was written in July of the same year by the late Dr. B. W.
Brooks., of Jonesboro', 111. :
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1065
The long-continued and ruinous flood of 1851 did newspapers of St. Louis of May 29, 1851. Two
not begin to attract particular attention until " fearful days after the river began to rise rapidly at St. Louis,
accounts of the rise in the upper Mississippi," the I and by sundown of the 30th was fifteen feet eight
river being over its banks in many places, reached the
" The Mississippi, being at a good boating stage of water,
commenced rising rapidly on the 18th day of May, 1844, and
continued rising at the rate of from two feet to thirty inches
every twenty-four hours until the first day of June, at which
time it was within eighteen inches of high-water mark in the
years 1811 and 1826. It then commenced falling gradually
until the 10th of June, at which time it had fallen some five or
six feet, so as to leave all the farms free from water, which
were previously about half covered with water generally, with
the exception of Jacob Treese's farm and a few others. This
rise was presumed to come out of the Mississippi lliver. On
the llth of June the Missouri flood came down, and the Mis-
sissippi commenced rising again, and continued to rise at the
rate of from one foot to eighteen inches every twenty-four
hours until it inundated the entire bottom, covering every
farm in it from eighteen to thirty feet, that being the depth of
soundings on the road from Jonesboro' to Littleton's old ferry,
and to Willard's ferry. Horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs were
destroyed in vast numbers, notwithstanding every exertion
was used by the benevolent and enterprising citizens through-
out the county. Wood-boats, ferry-flats, canoes, and skiffs, and
divers rafts or other crafts, made upon the spur of the moment,
were employed in collecting and boating the stock and house-
hold property of the alarmed and distressed citizens to the
high lands. Many of the citizens living near the banks on
the Illinois shore fled with their families in consternation to
the Missouri shore, leaving all their horses, cattle, and house-
hold effects to their fate. This latter rise and overflow of the
river continued until the 29th of June, when it came to a
stand, the citizens having in a great degree made an end of
removing the effects of the suffering inhabitants to the neigh-
boring hills. On the 1st of July the waters began greatly to
recede, and continued to fall until ... it became confined
within the banks of the river. It is worthy of remark that
about one-half of the houses in the Mississippi Bottom were
removed from their foundations; all the fences wholly removed
and washed away. All the warehouses on the bank fell into
the river, and many dwelling-houses shared a like fate.
" This inundation was ten or twelve feet higher than that of
1811, or of 1826, and higher than ever known, except in 1785,
when it rose thirty feet above the common level, and from the
reports recorded in Beck's 'History of Illinois and Missouri,'
it was the greatest flood known during the last one hundred and
fifty years, at which period the Mississippi washed in a part*of
Fort Chartres. Mr. Cerre, the oldest French settler in St.
Louis, says the inundation of the Mississippi and Missouri was
not as high by some four or five feet in 1785 as it was this
year, 1844, and all the old settlers of Kaskaskia agree in
saying that the overflow of 1785 left one dry spot in the town
of Kaskaskia, which was covered in 1844 with water five feet
deep. The steamer ' Indiana' was chartered by the nuns to
take the pupils of the nunnery to St. Louis, and received them
on board at Col. Menard's door, and passed along the road to
St. Louis, on which there was from six to fifteen feet of water,
leaving the river far to the left the whole route. Some two
hundred citizens went up from Kaskaskia on the ' Indiana,'
and about three hundred found shelter on the premises of Col.
Men»rd, and many more spread their tents along the bluffs.
" Millions of dollars will not cover the loss sustained by this
flood in the States of Illinois and Missouri. Some of the most
inches below the high-water mark of 1844, as marked
valuable farms in those two States have been rendered worth-
less for several years. The whole American Bottom from Alton
to Cairo was submerged, containing seven hundred square
miles of the finest land in the world. La Bute si Renard was
the only point of land out of water in 1785 : so says the St.
Louis Kepiiblicmi.
" The great flood was occasioned by the swelling of the north-
ern rivers which empty into the Missouri and upper Mississippi,
and by the melting of the snow on the eastern declivity of the
Rocky Mountains.
" The Spanish and Portuguese historians of De Soto's maraud-
ing expedition tell us that in March, 1542, all the high grounds
on the west side of the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Ohio
to Red River, were submerged several feet. There is a docu-
ment in the clerk's office of Randolph County, 111., at Kaskiiskia,
dated 1725, soliciting a grant of lots and lands from the crown
of France, and urging as a reason the 'great flood' of the
preceding year, 1724, which overflowed the village, destroyed
the houses, and drove the inhabitants to the bluffs.
"The bottom lands along the Mississippi from Alton to Cairo,
at the mouth of the Ohio, average five miles in width. Since
the Mississippi was first discovered by Europeans, the waters
had passed over all the low grounds from bluff to bluff
several times. In 1785 this bottom was covered, and small
boats passed from St. Louis to Kaskaskia over the land. In
1811, at the annual June rise of the Missouri, a part of the
American Bottom and the common fields of Ste. Genevieve
were inundated. In 1826 the river inundated the town of
Illinois, opposite St. Louis, and also the lowlands along the
American Bottom, but not as high by ten feet as this flood of
1844. The flood at St. Louis attained its greatest height on
the 24th of June, 1844, and was thirty-eight feet seven inches
above low-water mark at that city."
William L. Murfree, Sr., gives a graphic description of the
flood of 1844 in Scribner's Mayazine : "The shallowest water,
for indefinite miles in any direction, was two feet deep, the
nearest land 'the hills of the Arkansaw,' thirty miles away.
The mules were quartered on the upper floor of the gin-house ;
the cattle had all been drowned long ago ; planter, negro, and
overseer were confined to their respective domiciles; the grist-
mill was under water, and there was no means of preparing
corn for culinary purposes except a wooden hominy mortar.
The hog-and-hominy diet (so highly extolled by some people
who have never lived on it) was adopted of necessity, the
former being represented by mess-pork salter than tongue can
tell. There were no visitors, except now and then a sociable
snake, which, no doubt, bored by swimming around indefinitely
in the overflow, and craving even human companionship, would
glide up on the gallery of some of the houses. There was no
means of locomotion except the skiff and the humble but
ever serviceable ' dugout,' nowhere to go, and nobody within
a day's journey otherwise or more comfortably situated. The
only sense of sympathy from without was had from remote and
infrequent glimpses of the gallant steamer ' J. M. White,'
which, leaping from point to point, made better time from New
Orleans to St. Louis than was ever made before or for many
years after. That year nineteen plantations out of twenty failed
to produce a single pound of cotton or a single bushel of corn,
and when the flood was over and the swamp Noahs came out of
their respective arks, they were, to say the least, malcontent."
1066
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
on the column in front of the Centre Market, and
eight feet and one-half inch below the city directrix,
or the curbstone at the corner of Market Street and
the Levee. The top of the stonework of the dike is
two feet lower than the city directrix. A large
portion of the east side of Duncan's Island, and seven
houses, and a portion of the dike erected by the city
between the island and the Illinois shore, were washed
away. * About one million feet of lumber from the
upper part of the city was also washed away. Through
almost all of June the river continued to rise, until
June 23d it had risen four feet nine and a half inches
below the high-water mark of 1844 ; from this date
the waters commenced to decline.
The desolation which visited the States watered by
the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Wabash, the Illinois,
and their tributaries was beyond all calculation.
In 1854 the river was very high, the water
almost entirely submerging the Levee at St. Louis.
Great damage was done, especially in the lower portion
of the course of the river. The destruction of property
was immense in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
In 1858 the water rose to a point within about
two and a half feet of the flood of 1844. Many
towns were inundated, and vast destruction of property
was effected. The water broke over the levee at
Cairo, 111., and completely submerged that city. The
water in the Ohio was also very high. The planters
in the delta and the farmers throughout the low
country suffered immense losses.
In 1863 the river rose very high, and the flood
swept away much property. The water came into the
stores on the Levee at St. Louis. This was the last
great flood until 1881, though the water rose quite
high in 1867, and again in 1871 and 1875. But
these floods did little damage in the upper valley. In
Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana great destruction
was wrought in 1867, 1871, and 1875.
The flood of 1881 began in May, and on the 4th
of that month, from the foot of Anna Street, on the
St. Louis side, the only limit for the water was the
bluff, three miles to the east. East Carondelet, as
the little village opposite Carondelet is called, was
flooded by the breaking of the dike at the head of
the island, and the inhabitants took their children in
their arms and sought safety on the high grounds.
Many of them crossed in the ferry-boat and found
quarters in Carondelet. Over a hundred persons
were thus rendered homeless. From the arsenal,
steamboats could be seen through the willows which
were once on the bank of the river, plying in the
overflow. The width of the river at that point was
estimated at three miles.
The country surrounding the little town of Venice,
opposite the north wharf, was inundated. Night-
fall found East St. Louis still exempt from inundation,
but the situation there was extremely critical, and
the alarm among the inhabitants was general. At
2.35 o'clock, May 3d, the steamboats lying along the
East St. Louis side of the river set up a combined
whistling, which conveyed to people on the St. Louis
side of the river the impression that the town of East
St. Louis was in danger of being swept away, but
whistling was the signal agreed on whenever the break
should occur in the Madison County dike. Fortunately
the alarm, though far from causeless, did not herald
such great disaster. A break had occurred in the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad embank-
ment, and a great volume of water poured through it,
threatening to sweep down on East St. Louis and
send the inhabitants fleeing for their lives. The
water had two courses to take, — one up Cahokia
Creek, where it would do no great damage immedi-
ately, the other down the creek, where it would
drown out East St. Louis. When the possibility of
the embankment's breaking had been canvassed before-
hand, there was scarcely any one who did not suppose
that the water would come down the creek, but,
strangely enough, it took the other course, and the
Ohio and Mississippi embankment for the time kept
it away from East St. Louis.
The greatest actual damage which occurred in one
place was the loss of the bridge, valued at twenty
thousand dollars, across Cahokia Creek.
On May 5th the river had risen half a foot within
twenty-four hours, and was above the high-water mark
of 1876, and still rising. East St. Louis was in
greater danger than ever.
The water on the 4th came near taking in com-
pletely what little of the levee-front it had left the
day before. From Biddle Street to Locust sidewalks
were only to be seen in spots. From Washington
Avenue to Locust the water was running over the
pavement and against the lintels of the houses. From
Spruce Street to Chouteau Avenue there was no pas-
sage for pedestrians, and as early as six o'clock in the
afternoon a skiff tied to the awning-post in front of 607
South Levee was floating over the sidewalk in a foot of
water. Between East St. Louis and Fish Lake thou-
sands of acres of wheat were under water. In East
Carondelet there were some sixteen houses above
water, each of which was crowded with those whose
homes were submerged.
The floods on the Mississippi of which more par-
ticular accounts have been given were selected because
of the exceptionally high stage of the water, but almost
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1067
every year witnesses very high water, and the annual
loss of property is very great. These constantly occur-
ring stages of high water, in which the flood wave,
overleaping the banks, spreads over the adjacent !
country, have caused the construction of artificial
banks along the tops of those created by the stream
itself, and as these new banks have been extended
along both banks of the river, they have assumed a
regular system of protection, which is known as the
levee system. This system, though located on the
river below St. Louis, is yet of very great importance
to the trade and commerce of a city whose situation
naturally makes it the great commercial capital of the
river-drained country. It was to find " means of
obviating the disasters incident" to these floods, and
" to prevent the overflow of these low grounds, or
swamp lands generally, covering, as is supposed, nearly
forty thousand square miles,1 that the investigations
made by Charles Ellet, Jr., were undertaken.
" The lands which are now annual!}' overflowed may cer-
tainly be estimated at fully 1 6,000,000 of acres, which, if relieved
by any effectual process, would be worth at the government
price $20,000,000 ; but converted as they may be into sugar and
cotton-fields, would possess a value that it might seem extrava-
gant to state, while the annual loss and distress inflicted on the
present population by the inundations of the river can scarcely
find a parallel in many localities, excepting in the effects of na-
tional hostilities." a
These levees extend on one side or the other about
eighteen hundred miles, and represent in first cost and
present value twenty million dollars. But even the
present system is regarded as entirely inadequate, for
the levees, which are constantly breaking or threatening
to break, protect but a comparatively small strip along
the main stream and its principal tributaries, whereas
by protection against overflow and by proper drain-
age an enormous expanse of what is now waste swamp
land would be brought into cultivation, — a stretch of
country beside which the areas reclaimed from the sea
in the Netherlands sink into insignificance, — while the
work of reclamation, gigantic as it would have to be
in relation to its results, in the amount of time and
labor required, would be comparatively small beside
the work of the industrious Dutch. There would
thus be rendered available along the Mississippi not
1 " The area is as large as the States of New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jer-
sey combined. Less than eight per cent, of this area is now
under cultivation. It is estimated that if protected and im-
proved these lands would be worth $2,043,858,251. As their
present value is but $107,628,833, the increase would be a sum
nearly equal to the national debt. It is therefore claimed that
the returns would justify the outlay of the largest sum which
the improvement would be likely to cost."
* Ellet's " Memoir on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers," p. 27.
less than two million five hundred thousand acres
of sugar land, about seven million- acres of cotton
land, and one million acres of corn land, all of unsur-
passed fertility. On the eastern side of the river is the
great swamp of Mississippi, fifty miles wide, extend-
ing from just below Memphis to Vicksburg, one hun-
dred and seventy miles in a direct line, and nearly four
hundred miles along the river. On the other side is
another vast and fertile region, embracing the lower
part of Missouri, all the alluvial front of Arkansas and
of Louisiana as far down as the mouth of the Red River.
This land is not so favorably situated for reclamation
as that on the eastern side, where there is no tributary
of the Mississippi until the Yazoo is reached, within
a few miles of the Walnut Hills, near Vicksburg.
But on the west side are a number of tributary
streams, themselves all liable to overflow, while all
are subject to back-water from the Mississippi, which
would make levees necessary as far as the line of
back-water extends. Much fine land, however, has
been reclaimed here, although the line of levees is
more fragmentary than on the other side. Below the
Red River there are no tributaries entering the Mis-
sissippi, and on the other hand the waters are de-
pleted by numerous outlets to the gulf.
The levee system was begun in Louisiana in the
early part of the last century, but the reclamation of
swamp lands in Mississippi and Arkansas has origi-
nated in recent years. Congress,3 by a general grant
of all the inundated lands to the States in which they
lie, for the express purpose of making " the necessary
levees and drains to reclaim swamp and overflowed
lands," offered inducements to the States, and through
the States to individual enterprise, to commence
a vast system of embankment, with a view to the
ultimate exclusion of the water of the Mississippi
and its great tributaries from all the inundated lands
upon their borders. To this legislation the State of
Missouri responded by an appropriation of fifty thou-
sand dollars to begin the work of reclamation at the
head of the delta, where many hundreds of square
miles of inundated territory might be reclaimed by
art, and the land brought under cultivation. The
State of Arkansas with equal promptness passed an
act granting to all proprietors who may construct
front levees the right to enter the donated lands where
they may choose to select them, in payment for the
cost of the levees which they might construct. The
Legislature of Mississippi, even prior to the act of
Congress, gave authority to the five northern counties
of that State to levy a tax of ten cents per acre on
8 Act approved Sept. 28, 1850.
1068
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
all the lands in each of these counties, for the pur-
pose of constructing front levees and shutting out the
waters of the Mississippi from the great swamps ex-
tending back to the Yazoo. The State of Louisiana
was not less prompt in this matter than the other
States, and by the incorporation of the Louisiana
Levee Company has provided both authority and
power with appropriate means for restraining the
waters within the banks of the river.
A discussion of the wisdom of the levee system is
not within the province of this work, the aim of
which is only to relate what has taken place, and not
to forecast what may result from closing all the nat-
ural and existing outlets by which in former years the
flood wave of the Mississippi found a vent.1
But it cannot be denied that the reclamation of the
drowned lands in the Mississippi valley will improve j
the climate of a vast region of country and make it
more salubrious, adding vastly to the wealth of those
States by giving value to the lands, and greatly in-
crease their commercial resources by bringing im-
mense regions of these vacant lands under cultivation,
while improving the navigation of the river. An
object of so much importance to the health and pros-
perity of so many people in so many States cannot
be without great influence upon the trade, commerce,
and prosperity of the city of St. Louis.
Ferries. — Prior to 1797 there was a ferry between
the Missouri and Illinois shores, starting from a point j
below the town of St. Louis, but in that year a ferry
between Cahokia and St. Louis was established, which
seems to have been the only one for a considerable
period.2
1 In 1874 a national commission recommended an elaborate
levee system. As this was regarded as but a temporary expe-
dient, the commission appointed under the law of 1879 consid-
ered more comprehensive plans. Chief of these are two which
are designed to make a subordinate element of the levees, and
possibly to make it possible to dispense with them altogether.
One of these is called the " outlet system," and is designed to
carry off the superfluous waters by making large and adequate
outlets, possibly diverting the Red River, so that it shall reach
the gulf independently of the Mississippi.
2 In "Annals of the West," page 122, the following reference
to the ferry occurs :
" At that time [at the period of the foundation of St. Louis]
a skirt of tall timber lined the bank of the river, free from under-
growth, which extended back to a line about the range of Eighth
Street. In the rear was an extensive prairie. The first cabins
were erected near the river and market; no ' Bloody Island' or
' Duncan's Island' then existed. Directly opposite the old
Market Square the river was narrow and deep, and until about
the commencement of the present century persons could be dis-
tinctly heard from the opposite shore. Opposite Duncan's
Island and South St. Louis was an island covered with heavy
timber and separated from the Illinois shore by a slough. Many
persons are now living (1850) who recollect the only ferry from
About 1783, Capt. James S. Piggott established a
fort not far from the bluffs in the American Bottom,
west of the present town of Columbia, in Monroe
County, which was called " Piggott's Fort ;" and Gover-
nor St. Clair, knowing the character of Capt. Piggott'a
services during the Revolutionary war, made him pre-
siding judge of the court of St. Cfair County, the seat
of which was at Cahokia. Capt. Piggott was not only
a brave soldier, but a shrewd and enterprising man,
and set to work at once to develop the resources of
the little community. In the winter of 1792-93 he
erected two log cabins on the site of East St. Louis,
and continued the work of improvement during the
winter months (in the summer the workmen would
have been in constant danger from the Indians) until
1795. After the successful campaign of Gen. Wayne
against the Indians, Capt. Piggott removed his family
from the fort to the site of the future Illinoistown.
Having completed a road and bridge over Cahokia
Creek and established a ferry from the Illinois to the
Missouri shore, he petitioned, on the 15th of August,
1797, for the exclusive right to collect ferriage in St.
Louis, then under the dominion of the Spanish crown.
His petition was in the following words :
"Si. CLAIR Co., TERRITQRY OF THE UNITED STATES,
" NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO.
"To Mr. Zenon Trudean, Commander at St. Louis:
"SiR, — Though unacquainted, through a certain confidence
of your love of justice and equity, I venture to lay before you
the following petition, which, from reasons following, I am con-
fident you will find just to allow.
" The petition is that Your Honor will grant me the whole
benefit of this ferry to and from the town of St. Louis. I do
not desire to infringe upon the ferry privileges below the town,
which have been long established, but that no person in the
town may be allowed to set people across the river for pay (at
this place), so long as you shall allow that the benefits of this
ferry hath made compensation for my private expenses in open-
ing a new road and making it good from this ferry to Cahokia
Town, and making and maintaining a bridge over the River
Abbe of a hundred and fifty feet in length.
" Your consideration and answer to this is the request of your
humble petitioner; and as an acknowledgment of the favor
petitioned for, if granted, I will be under the same regulations
with my ferry, respecting crossing passengers or property from
your shore as your-ferry-men are below the town ; and should
your people choose to cross the river in their own crafts, my
landing and road shall be free to them.
"And should you wish me to procure you anything that
comes to market from the country on this side, I shall alwayi
be ready to serve you.
"And should you have need of timber or anything that is
the product of my land, it may be had at the lowest rates.
" I am, sir, with due respect, your humble servant,
"JAMES PIGGOTT.
"Aug. 15, 1797."
Illinois to St. Louis passed from Cahokia, below this island, and
landed on the Missouri shore near the site of the United States
arsenal."
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1069
Although the Spanish commandant was anxious to
have the ferry regularly carried on by Piggott, because
it was of great use to St. Louis, yet he devised a plan
by which it was done without having it said that he
had granted the ferry-right to a foreigner, viz., he
granted Piggott the ferry landing below Market Street,
on which Piggott then erected a small ferry-house,
which was occupied mostly by one of his ferry hands,
who at any time could transport foot passengers in a
canoe ; but when horses, etc., were to be taken across
a platform had to be used, which required three men
to manage it.
This platform was surrounded by a railing, and
floated on Indian " pirogues," made by hollowing out
trees. The craft was " poled or paddled with long
sweeps handled by Creoles." Not only was Piggott
granted the right of establishing a ferry-house at St.
Louis, but he was made a citizen of the town by the
commandant, and clothed with other powers and
privileges. At this time, it is said, the river was so
narrow that persons wishing to cross from either side
could easily make Capt. Piggott hear " the old-time
shout of '0— ver!'"
The ferry was managed by Capt. or Judge Piggott
until the 20th of February, 1799, when he died,
leaving his wife the executrix of his will. Mrs.
Piggott rented the ferry to Dr. Wallis for the years
1800-2, and then to a Mr. Adams. About this
time Mrs. Piggott married Jacob Collard, and removed
from Illinois to St. Louis, Mo. Before leaving she
leased the ferry to John Campbell for ten years from
the 5th day of May, 1805. Campbell, however,
procured a license for a ferry in his own name
during the time of the lease, and hence for a short j
time it was called " Campbell's ferry." But after
a lawsuit Campbell and confederates were beaten,
and the ferry reconveyed to Piggott's heirs, one of
whom, assisted by men named Solomon, Blundy, and
Porter, operated the ferry until part of the heirs sold
out to McKnight & Brady.
For some time the ferry-boats landed at Illinois-
town, about the northwest end of Main and Market
Streets, near which was the spot where the bridge
constructed by Capt. Piggott crossed the River 1' Abbe,
more commonly known as Cahokia Creek. Although
many tenants subsequently occupied the ferry tract of
land, none of them had a fee title therein, the
property being owned by the heirs of James Piggott
or their assigns, who derived their title in part from
a grant made by Governor William H. Harrison, of
Indiana Territory, March 12, 1803, of a tract of
land which afterwards became the site of East St.
Louis.
68
On the 7th of December, 1808, the following an-
nouncement was made of the rates of ferriage :
" To TRAVELERS.
" Rates of ferriage, as established by law, from St. Louis to
the opposite shore.
For a single person $0.25
Horse 50
Neat cattle, each 50
Calash 50
Wagon 50
Lumber of any kind, per cwt 12£"
In 1813 a rival ferry appears, from the subjoined
advertisement published May 15, 1813, to have been
established :
"We, the subscribers, take the liberty to inform the public
that any person or persons who may think proper to cross with
us at our ferry to St. Louis, and for which pay us the customary
prices established by law, that we will return them back free of
ferriage at all times when our boat is on the west side of the
Mississippi River at St. Louis. This measure became indis-
pensably necessary in consequence of an indirect course of con-
duct practiced towards us.
"BrRD <fe CHARLES LOCKHART,
" Lockhart's Ferry, opposite St. Louis."
The following ofier to rent Piggott's ferry was made
on the 30th of September in the same year :
"Ferry. On the 13th November next I will rent to the
highest bidder the ferry opposite St. Louis ; due attendance
will be given by me at the house where John Porter now lives,
and other particulars will be made known at the time of leasing.
" JOSEPH PIGQOTT."
On the 4th of January, 1815, five-sevenths of Pig-
gott's heirs conveyed their interest in the ferry to Mc-
Knight & Brady, who had, under special contract,
been running it on trial one year previous, and on the
4th of March, 1820, the other two-sevenths of Pig-
gott's heirs conveyed their interest in the land and
ferry to Samuel Wiggins, who, under special contract
with them, had been running a ferry in competition
with McKnight & Brady during 1819, and on the
19th of May, 1821, McKnight & Brady conveyed
their ferry right to Samuel Wiggins.1
Edwin Draper, writing of his own experience in
crossing the Mississippi in 1815, says, —
" The ferry-boat in which we crossed was a small keel-boat,
without upper deck or cabin, and was propelled by four oars by
hand. The wagons, then the only means of land travel, were
run by hand on to the boat, across which were placed broad
planks transversely, resting on the gunwales of the boat, while
the tongue of the wagon projected beyond the side of the boat,
and as the latter swayed gracefully to the motion of the waves
1 Another account states that " Pigot" (meaning, of course,
not Capt. Piggott, but another member of the family) " operated
the ferry in the same old fashion with canoes until 1815 or 1817.
It probably passed then into the hands of Day, a squire and
tavern-keeper in Illinoistown. In 1819, Day sold to Samuel
Wiggins. Day had improved somewhat on the old system, and
had run a boat operated by one horse, who, by a treadmill step,
had worked stern- or side-wheels."
1070
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the tongue-chains would dip politely into the water, as if ac-
knowledging the power of the mighty monarch they were daring
to stride. The horses, wagon, and saddle, family, slaves, and
dogs were stowed in the bottom of the boat between the wagons,
and thus we triumphantly entered Missouri. Our crossing, with
many other families, was detained several days by high winds
and waves preventing the safe crossing of the boat. Whether
this boat was merely improvised for the occasion, or was the
regular class of boats then in use I do not know, but that was
the boat then used. Since that date I have lived in Missouri
to see and experience its many changes, and have been more or
less familiar with its history. My first crossing of the great
water certainly inspired tne with some fear, but I did not know
then but it was among the common products or everyday sights j
in this country. . . .
" The statement I make is this, that at the time I first crossed
the stream in 1815 it was fully a quarter of a mile wider at St.
Louis than it is at the present time. I do not state the exact
number of feet and inches it has diminished, but about the
above distance. How this wonderful change in the width of
the river at your great city was brought about it is not my
business or purpose to explain."
Another writer thus describes the old ferry a few
years later :
" There were at that time two ferry-boats making regular
trips, one at the foot of Market Street and one near Morgan
Street. In front of the city was a sand-bar, which in 1819
reached from Market to Morgan Streets, and extended two-
thirds of the way across the river.
" The ferries were owned by Mr. Nash and E. M. Van Ansdel.
One of the boats crossed above Bloody Island, and the other
below. Skiffs and keel boats were also much used in the trans-
fer of freight and passengers. Mr. Day started the first horse
ferry-boat about 1824, which was also the first one that had any
cover or protection from the weather."
In November, 1816, five persons lost their lives by
the upsetting of the ferry-boat. The newspaper ac-
count of the disaster at the time of its occurrence is
as follows:
" On Tuesday morning last the ferry-boat which is
accustomed to ply between this town and the opposite
shore of the Mississippi upset in the middle of the
stream, by which five persons lost their lives. The
ferryman, Mr. Dubay, and his two assistants died on
being taken ashore from the wreck ; Ezekiel Woolfort,
son of Mr. Woolfort, of this place, and a Mr. Stark, of
Bourbon County, Ky., sunk before the boats reached
the wreck, and are not found. What adds poignancy
to this unusual catastrophe, some of the ferrymen
spoke after they were taken up, but died from ex-
cessive fatigue and cold, without an immediate remedy
being applied, and which generally succeeds in cases
of suspended animation.
" Dubay was a useful citizen, and attended to the
town ferry with unprecedented attention. He has left
a helpless family, whose situation claims the attention
of the benevolent.
" Mr. John Jacoby, of St. Louis, has authorized
us to offer a reward of fifty dollars for the body of
Mr. Stark, or if it should be taken up too far down
the river for conveyance to this place, those to whose
lot it may fall to pay the last sad offices to the de-
ceased are informed that every expense will be paid
for his decent interment. Mr. Woolfort will no doubt
liberally reward those who will find and inter his son
as above."
On the 17th of March, 1819, it was announced
that application had been made-" to the Legislature
of Illinois at its present session for the privilege of
running a ferry-boat from the town of Illinois to St.
Louis by steam- or horse-power, and that Legislature,
with a laudable view of encouraging useful improve-
ments for public accommodation, have authorized the
establishment of such ferry-boat."
Besides managing the ferry, Mr. Wiggins appears
also to have kept a tavern in Illinoistown, and was
evidently a thrifty and progressive citizen.1
In 1820, Mr. Wiggins procured a boat which was
worked by one-horse power, but still employed
French Creoles from Cahokia to ferry passengers and
horses over by means of canoes lashed together. The
new boat was crushed in the ice in the winter of
1824-25, near the foot of Morgan (then Oak) Street,
Mr. Wiggins then built a larger and better boat,
which he christened the " Sea Serpent," of one-horse
power, and from this until 1828 all the ferriage was
performed by boats of this class. So largely did the
business increase that he was compelled to enlarge his
fleet, and two other boats, also of one-horse power,
1 "After the establishment of the Piggott ferry successive at-
tempts were made to establish towns, which bore various names.
Some of these were laid out immediately on the shore of the
river, and as there were no paved levees to protect the banks,
the river kept constantly encroaching upon the land, and the
towns were washed away. The first was named Washington.
It was situated on the Illinois shore, eastward and opposite to
the St. Louis grain elevator. It consisted of a tavern, owned
by Mr. Samuel AViggins, and four or five dwelling-houses. A
gentleman now living near Belleville, once clerk of St. Clair
Count}', relates an incident that occurred to him during the
time when Washington was gradually washing away. lie
states that he had been to St. Louis with produce from his
father's farm, fifteen miles eastward. He says, 'One night I
slept in Wiggins' tavern. It was pretty close to the shore. A
big sycamore-tree stood eight feet from the house on the bank.
Along about midnight I heard wnter. It seemed from the sound
to be under the house. I thought it must be the river. I partly
dressed as quickly as I could, and ran out shoreward. Wiggins
and everybody else that was in it ran out too, expecting the
house to go. The big sycamore was gone. It had taken with
it a piece of ground from under the .house, and the river was
running under the outer wall. But it stood till morning. I
got breakfast there, when they moved it back farther from the
river.'. Subsequently all the town of Washington was washed
away." — Hist. East St. Louis, by Robert A. Tyson, pp. 19
and 20.
<**<
v^
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1071
named the " Rhinoceros'' and " Antelope," were added
to the number, making three in all. In 1828 a new
boat, with steam-power, named the " St. Clair," was
added, and made two landings each day, calling at the
foot of Market Street, then at Morgan, and thence
across to the Illinois shore. In 1830 the business
had increased to such an extent as to demand another
boat, and the " Ibex" was added. In 1832, Samuel
Wiggins sold his ferry franchises to Bernard Pratte,
father of Gen. Bernard Pratte, John O'Fallon, John
H. Gay, Charles Mulliken, Andrew Christy, Samuel
C. Christy, Adain L. Mills, and William C. Wiggins.
In 1838, John H. Gay bought the interest of John
O'Fallon. Shortly after this Andrew Christy pur-
chased the remaining interest of Col. O'Fallon, and
afterwards the entire interest of Mr. Gay. At this
time Mr. Christy and his sister-in-law, Mrs. McLane
Christy, owned ten shares, over one-half of the stock.
Andrew Christy was born in Warren County, Ohio,
in 1799, and when quite young removed with his
parents to Lawrence County, 111., where they located
on a farm near Sumner, the county-seat of that
county. In his youth Andrew engaged for a time
in teaching school near Ridge Prairie, St. Clair
Co., in the same State.
In 1826, in company with Francis and Vital, sons
of Nicholas Jarrot, of Cahokia, he engaged in lead-
mining at Galena, 111., which business he pursued
during several years. He then removed to St. Clair
County, opposite St. Louis, and entered into business
with his brother, Samuel C. Christy.
In 1832, as stated above, he and his brother, with
Bernard Pratte and others, purchased from Samuel
Wiggins the ferry franchise and boats belonging to
the Wiggins Ferry Company, and continued a member
of this company until his death. From 1835 to 1840
he was engaged in the grocery and commission busi-
ness in St. Louis with Samuel B. Wiggins, in Chou-
teau's Row, on the street then between Market and
W'ulnut Streets and Main Street and the Levee.
He represented St. Louis in the Legislature of
Missouri in 1851.
Mr. Christy was a public-spirited man, and among
the important enterprises which he was active in pro-
moting were operations for the preservation of the
harbor of St. Louis by turning the current of the
river toward the Missouri shore, and thus preventing
the shoaling of the water on that side. He was also
identified with early efforts for the establishment of
railroads leading to St. Louis. In short, he was a
promoter of every enterprise that promised to advance
the prosperity of the city.
By the exercise of his excellent judgment and keen
foresight, together with his indomitable energy, he
accumulated a large fortune, which he bequeathed to
his brothers and sisters, or their descendants. He
was never married. Mr. Christy died of paralysis
Aug. 11, 1869.
In 1832 the steam ferry-boat " Ozark" was added
to the vessels of the ferry company ; thep, as the busi-
ness increased, the " Vindicator" and the " Icelander"
were put on, the latter being destroyed by fire in 1844.
The " Wagoner" was built in 1846, and then the
" Grampus." The " St. Louis" was added in 1848.
Her boilers exploded Feb. 21, 1851, killing thirteen
persons, including the engineer, a daughter of Mr.
Jarvis, the pilot, and Captain Trendley's son, who
had just arrived from California, having been in the
city but two days. The accident occurred at the foot
of Spruce Street, just after the boat left the landing.
After the "St. Louis" there followed in turn, as occa-
sion demanded, the "Illinois," "John Trendley,"
" Illinois, No. 2," lost in the ice in 1864, the " Amer-
ica," and the " New Era," which became the flag-ship
" Essex" of Admiral Foote, and saw hard service in
the civil war. In addition to these were the " Charles
Mulliken," " Samuel C. Christy," " Cahokia," " Belle-
ville," "Edward C. Wiggins," "East St. Louis,"
" Springfield," " Edwardsville," " Ram," " Lewis V.
Bogy," and the tugs " H. C. Crevelin," "S. C. Clubb,"
and " D. W. Hewitt." The " Vindicator" was wrecked
in 1871, and in 1875 the " S. C. Clubb" was nearly
destroyed by fire, but was afterwards repaired.
Owing to the difficulty and danger experienced by
the ordinary ferry-boats in crossing the river when
encumbered by ice, the company, in July, 1839, con-
tracted with a boat-builder at New Albany, Ind., for
an ice steam ferry-boat, with which they would be
" able to cross the river at all times, except when the
ice is stationary." The vessel was to be constructed
after plans prepared by Mr. Mulliken, of Mulliken &
Pratte, merchants of St. Louis, with an iron bow,
" in such a manner as to admit of her being driven
through any amount of floating ice." The boat was
completed in the following fail, and arrived at St.
Louis on the 3d of December. She was about one
hundred feet in length, forty feet beam, and four feet
hold. Her hull was plated with sheet-iron one-sixth
of an inch in thickness, with an iron cutwater seven
inches thick. She carried four hundred tons and
drew twenty-five inches of water.
In 1842 a new ferry company was formed, as ap-
pears from the following announcement in the Rcpujj.
lican of February 5th of that year : " We understand
that the new ferry company have contracted with the
Dry-Dock Company for a ferry-boat. This company
1072
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
have obtained the right of ferriage from the foot of
Spruce Street, and from a road laid out by the author-
ities of St. Clair County to the river-bank."
In 1 847 the landing-place of the ferry at St. Louis
was at the foot of Locust Street, but complaint was
made that this location was inconvenient, and that
delay was caused by the crowding of other boats " into
the landing at that point."
On the 22d of January, 1848, it was announced
that a new steam ferry had been established at Car-
19
CAHOKIA IN 1840.
ondelet across the Mississippi Eiver. This, it was
added, would open a new line of travel to all Southern
Illinois. The distance from the Kaskaskia road to
the river was about two miles, and between these points
a substantial road was built. <( By this route," said
the announcement, " travelers avoid the difficulties of
crossing the American Bottom."
On the 7th of January, 1852, the Republican
stated that the ferry company had " with their usual
liberality placed their ferry-boats at the disposition of
the railroad company for the transportation of persons
to and from the demonstration to be made to-day.
The boats will be free to persons going to or return-
ing from the celebration."
In 1853 the Wiggins charter, granted in 1819, ex-
pired, and application was made to the Legislature for
a renewal. Commenting upon this application at the
time (Feb. 3, 1853) the Republican said, —
" Under their charter and various amendments since obtained
they have heen doing a highly prosperous business. They have
managed to keep the field and destroy measurably all compe-
tition. They are now applying to the Legislature for an im-
mense addition to their powers. They are asking the Legisla-
ture to re-charter them with a capital of one million, and with
power to own fifteen hundred acres (three hundred of coal land),
and also with power to build a city on Bloody Island, to charge
wharfage fees, to build and to run any number of ferry-boats from
said island to St. Louis, and generally to engage in any busi-
ness required by the exigencies of a city proprietorship. '
" The city on Bloody Island, with all its wharves, lots, streets,
and alleys, would probably belong for many generations to
come to this incorporated company. St. Louis has felt, and
Cairo has felt, and both cities now feel the evil of having a great
mass of their property in the hands of one man or a few
men."
When Samuel Wiggins sold his franchises to the
company in 1832, he transferred to them about eight
or nine hundred acres lying between Brooklyn and
the Cahokia commons. The company
leased the river front of the Cahokia
commons, embracing between five and
six thousand acres, and gave the Ca-
hokians a free ferriage to and from
St. Louis and three hundred dollars
per year for twenty years. On the
3^yfj|£* expiration of the lease the Cahokians
re-leased a portion of the lands to in-
dividuals, the revenue of which went
" to the support of schools and law-
yers." The commons extended from
the ancient city of Cahokia to the
Pittsburgh coal landing at the dike
opposite Chouteau Avenue, and were
extremely fertile.
Notwithstanding the opposition to
the company's application for a new charter and addi-t
tional franchises, a perpetual charter for ferry purposes
was granted to Andrew Christy, William C. Wiggins,1
1 William C. Wiggins, brother of Samuel Wiggins, was born
in 1783 atNewburgh, N. Y., and the early portion of his life was
spent in the cities of New York and Albany. He then removed
to Charleston, S. C., where he lived ten years and was married.
After this he returned to the city of New York, remained there
some years, and in 1818 started for the West, arriving in St.
Louis in the same year. In 1822 he took charge of the " Wig-
gins Ferry," of which he remained in charge for thirty years.
He was the last of the original purchasers of the stock of the
company, and realized from his exertions and industry a hand-
some fortune. Mr. Wiggins died on the 25th of November,
1853.
Samuel B. Wiggins, son of William C. Wiggins, was born in
Charleston, S. C., Dec. 11, 1814. He first commenced business
in Illinois, but subsequently returned to St. Louis and opened a
house in company with S. C. Christy, under the style of Christy
& Wiggins. When Mr. Christy retired, Mr. Wiggins carried
on the business alone until he took his brother into partnership,
the new firm being known as S. B. Wiggins & Co. After con-
tinuing for some time it was again reorganized under the name
of Wiggins & Anderson, and was a prominent grocery and
dry-goods firm. It was dissolved in 1859, and Mr. Wiggins,
withdrew entirely from active business life. During the period
of his commercial career and afterwards he occupied various
important positions in business circles. He was a director in
the Southern Bank, in the Pacific Insurance Company, and
for fifteen years in the Citizens' Insurance Company. For
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1073
Adam L. Mills, Lewis V. Bogy, and Napoleon B.
Mulliken.
The company, although it enjoyed for many years
a practical monopoly of the ferriage business, appears,
on the whole, to have pursued a liberal policy. The ;
entire river-front of East St. Louis, for a distance of j
four miles, was owned by it, and in 1875 its property !
was estimated to be worth several millions of dollars. |
The company contributed greatly to the development j
and growth of East St. Louis, and co-operated with
the railroad companies in providing additional traveling
facilities for St. Louis by granting suitable grounds
for tracks, depots, warehouses, yards, and machine-
shops. For eighteen years Hon. Lewis V. Bogy,
afterwards United States > senator from Missouri, was i
president of the company, and Capt. John Trendley,1
after whom also one of the ferry-boats was named,
served the company continuously from the 7th of May,
1825, for a period of more than half a century.
In 1865 the average number of passengers carried
daily by the ferry fleet to and from St. Louis was j
from 1000 to 1500; bushels of coal, 10,000 to 15,000;
transfer-wagons, 500 to 600 ; farmers' and market-
wagons, 100 to 150 ; omnibuses, 30 to 40. The ag-
gregate receipts for 1865 were very little less than
$300,000, while in 1873 the aggregate receipts were
largely over $500,000. At this time (1873) there
were 10,000 shares, representing nominally a million
of dollars, " but," remarked a newspaper writer, " if
any one desires to know how much they are worth at
a marketable or selling price over the par value of
8100, he can do so by wanting to purchase." In
addition to the eight ferry-boats and three transfer-
boats which the company then owned, the East St.
Louis real estate and wharf franchises were very
valuable. Much the largest amount of stock was
held by the Christys, which had been sub-divided, and
was then represented by perhaps twenty-five heirs.
The sales of real estate subsequent to 1865 and up
to 1873, none being sold prior to 1865, and all of it
having been purchased by Capt. Samuel Wiggins at
several years he was president of the Wiggins Ferry Company, I
in which he was a large stockholder. He died on the 24th of j
July, 1868.
1 A newspaper writer, describing the ferry at an early period,
eays, "There was no levee at that time, and the boat was landed !
under the cliffs and rocks. A road led down from the village ;
(St. Louis) to the ferry landing. Capt. Trendley used fre-
quently to run in under the cliffs to get out of a shower. The
ferry landing at that early time on the Illinois shore was at the
old brick tavern then kept by Dr. Tiffin (which has since been
swept away), and about two hundred yards west of the Illinois
and Terre Haute round-house. The fare at that time was a
' long bit' for a footman, a market-wagon seventy-five cents,
and for a two-horse wagon one dollar."
the government price of one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre, amounted to almost one million dollars,
and what was left was considered in 1873 to be
worth more than the whole estimated value of 1865.
In 1875 the officers of the company were N. Mul-
liken, president ; F. M. Christy, vice-president ; S.
C. Clubb, general superintendent ; Henry Sackman,
assistant superintendent ; John Trendley, agent ;
first grade directors, N. Mulliken, F. M. Christy, S.
C. Clubb, J. H. Beach, Ernest Pegnet. In 1882,
Samuel C. Clubb, president; F. L. Ridgely, vice-
president ; Henry L. Clark, secretary and treasurer ;
E. C. Newkirk, assistant secretary ; directors, Sam-
uel C. Clubb, F. L. Ridgely, Charles Shaw, Ernest
Pegnet, and Charles Wiggins, Jr.
The St. Charles ferry was established by Marshall
Brotherton2 and John L. Ferguson.
The South St. Louis and Cahokia ferry was estab-
lished in 1870, and opened to travel on the 19th of
June of that year. The following account of the
inauguration of the ferry was printed in a St. Louis
newspaper of the 20th :
" The tow-boat ' Florence/ Henry Kuter, captain, left the
foot of Anna Street yesterday afternoon for Cahokia with a
large excursion party on board. The occasion was the celebra-
tion of the opening of a ferry between South St. Louis and
z Marshall Brotherton was born in Erie County, Pa., Jan. 6,
1811, and when an infant was brought out into the wilds of
St. Louis County by his parents. The family located upon a
piece of ground not far from St. Louis, and Mr. Brotherton,
the elder, lived there as a thrifty farmer up to the time of his
death. James Brotherton, a brother of Marshall, was elected
sheriff of St. Louis County, and Marshall, then a young man,
removed to St. Louis and worked in the office of his brother as
deputy. When James died, Marshall, who had made a very
efficient officer, was elected sheriff, and occupied that office for
several terms. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits in St.
Louis, his business being mainly that of a lumber dealer. He
was also interested in other matters, notable among them being
a partnership with John L. Ferguson in the ownership of the
St. Charles ferry. At various periods he held the offices of
sheriff, county judge, fund commissioner, and president of the
board of managers of the House of Refuge. About 1854 or
1855 he was put forward as a candidate for the mayoralty, but
was not elected. He was uniformly successful in business,
owing to his sound judgment, active habits, and great popular-
ity. At the time of his death, which occurred in the latter
part of November, 1875, his ferry interest and the North Mis-
souri Planing-Mill, situated on the river-bank, at the foot of
Bremen Avenue, were the only active operations which he still
controlled. He was, however, president of the Bremen Savings-
Bank, which position he had held ever since that institution
was organized.
In early manhood Mr. Brotherton married Miss Ferguson, a
sister of his partner, John L. Ferguson. His wife died a few
years after they were married, and in 1840 or 1841 he married
Miss Herndon, a daughter of Rev. John C. Herndon, by whom
he had two daughters, afterwards Mrs. Oscar Reed and Mrs..
Stephen M. Yeaman.
1074
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Cahokia. The South St. Louis and Cahokia Ferry Company
was established in March last, with a nominal capital of two
hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dol-
lars; each share to receive the benefit of one lot twenty by
one hundred and forty feet in what is denominated Southeast
St. Louis, to wit : a sand-bar, a portion of Cahokia commons,
and so much of the Mississippi River as may be recovered by a
contemplated dike from the main shore to Cobb Island ' by
accretion.' The lease of these lands has been obtained by the
ferry company for ninety-nine years. About seven hundred
acres of land is comprised in this lease, for which the company is
to pay twenty-five dollars per acre per annum, and the present
inhabitants of Cahokia to pass over free during their lives. This
privilege does not extend to their offspring, and it accordingly
behooves the beneficiaries to live on to a good old age. The
lease was made also on condition that one thousand dollars be
expended by the company for improvements within eight
months, and that at least one ferry-boat be put in operation
within fifteen months.
" The officers of the company are Robert J. Rombauer, presi-
dent; Henry Saenger, secretary and treasurer, with the follow-
ing directors : George Bayha, E. W. Decker, George Rathwaite,
Antoine Faller, John D. Abry, of East St. Louis; E. H. Illin-
ski, of Cahokia ; Francis Mohrhardt. The bargain on the part
of the Cahokians was signed by Francis Lavallee, supervisor,
and George Labenhoffer and John Palmer, trustees."
The officers of the Cahokia and St. Louis Ferry
Company in 1882 were Julius Pitzman, president,
and W. S. Hopkins, secretary.1
In addition to the foregoing, the following ferry
companies have offices in St. Louis :
Madison County ferry, landing foot of North
Market Street; boats ply between St. Louis and
Venice, 111. ; president in 1882, John J. Mitchell.
St. Louis and Illinois Railroad ferry, from foot of
Chouteau Avenue to the coal dike, East St. Louis.
1 In 1864 Arsenal Island, containing about one hundred and
twenty acres of ground, was allotted by the Secretary of the
Interior and the commissioners of the general land office to the
St. Louis public schools, and in 1866 the school board sold it to
the city for thirty-three thousand dollars. It was occupied for
hospital purposes by the city until 1869, when the hospitals
were removed to Quarantine. In 1874, Benjamin Segar settled
on the island, and put part of it in cultivation, and continued
to live there under a lease granted him by the city. The island
for a number of years had been moving down stream, and finally
fronted on a parcel of ground in the Cahokia commons on the
Illinois shore, owned by Judge Rombauer, as trustee for the
Cahokia Ferry Company. When the island had reached a point
in front of the ground mentioned, the ferry company claimed the
right to extend their north and south lines across it to the
water's edge on the western side thereof, and to take possession
of so much of the island as was contained within those lines,
and they entered on the island and built a wire fence on their
north line. This fence was torn down as soon as its existence
came to the knowledge of the city authorities, and sign -boards
were erected warning all persons from trespassing there. Sub-
sequently an action was instituted in the Circuit Court at Belle-
ville by Judge Rombauer, as trustee, against M. Segar, the
tenant of the city, to recover the possession of the fifty acres
of ground embraced within the lines spoken of.
The St. Louis and Illinois Coal Company and
Ferry was originally chartered in 1841 under the
style of the " St. Clair Railroad Company," and
under that name continued until 1865, when the
present company was organized, and became the pur-
chasers of the franchises of the St. Clair Railroad
Company. The incorporators were William C. An-
derson and John D. Whitesides. The company does
a general coal transportation and ferry business.
Joseph W. Branch was elected president in 1865, and
has ever since continued to hold that position. The
present capital stock is one million five hundred thou-
sand dollars. The board of directors consists of
the following : Joseph W. Branch, Adolphus Meier,
C. S. Greeley, W. A. Hargadine, N. Campbell, John
D. Perry, George Knapp. The officers are Joseph
W. Branch, president; Adolphus Meier, vice-presi-
dent ; P. T. Burke, secretary and treasurer.
Waterloo Turnpike Road and Ferry Company, W.
H. Grapevine, superintendent ; ferry landing, foot of
David Street ; transfer, foot of Franklin Street, Car-
ondelet.
The Great St. Louis Steel Bridge across the Mis-
sissippi River.2 — The first proposition for the erection
of a bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis
was made by Charles Ellet, Jr., in 1839.3 Mr. Ellet
proposed a suspension bridge having a central span of
twelve hundred feet, and two side spans of nine hun-
dred feet each ; but the city fathers stood aghast at
the enormous estimate of the cost, seven hundred and
thirty-seven thousand six hundred dollars, for a high-
way bridge alone. Mr. Ellet revived his project in
September, 1848, but nothing was accomplished. In
January, 1853, it was stated in one of the St. Louis
newspapers * that u some years ago Mr. Charles Col-
lins obtained the passage of a law authorizing the
building of a suspension bridge across the Mississippi
at St. Louis, and if he had lived there is every
reason to believe that he would have accomplished it ;
but with him died all the enterprise of the northern
part of the city, and nothing has been heard of it
since."5
1 For the history of the construction of the great bridge, the
author is mainly indebted to Professor C. M. Woodward, of
Washington University.
* The first bridge to span the Mississippi River was a wire
suspension bridge at Minneapolis, Minn., built in 1854 by
Thomas M. Griffith, at a cost of nearly fifty thousand dollars.
< Republican, Jan. 13, 1853.
6" Yesterday," said the same paper of March 17, 1854, "we
examined the drawing and profile of a bridge for the Mississippi
River, drawn by B. Andreas, engineer, corner of Second and
Chestnut Streets, over Ellis & Hutton's. He has located it across
the river at or near the shot-tower above Carondelet, and has
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1075
In 1855,1 Josiah Dent organized a company, with
Maj. J. W. Bissell as engineer, and a second plan
for a suspension railway bridge was proposed. The
cost was estimated at one million five hundred thou-
sand dollars. For the want of financial support the
scheme was soon abandoned. The incorporators of
the company, which was known as the St. Louis and
Illinois Bridge Company, were : St. Louis, John
How, J. H. Lucas, John O'Fallon, Samuel Gaty, An-
drew Christy, Josiah Dent, S. J. Smith, D. A. Janu-
ary, William M. Morrison ; Illinois, J. A. Matter-
son, Curtis Blakeman, J. D. Morrison, S. B. Chand-
ler, William C. Kinney, Gustavus Koerner, William
S. Wait, Vital Jarrot, William N. Wickliffe, John M.
Palmer, John D. Arnold, Joseph Gillespie.
In 1867 the time seemed to have arrived for com-
mencing operations in earnest. Strangely enough,
after nearly thirty years of inactivity, two rival com-
panies appeared in the field ; one was regularly organ-
ized (in April, 1867) under the laws of Missouri,
and included among its managers several prominent
citizens of St. Louis ; the other claimed an exclusive
right under a charter granted by the State of Illinois,
and was controlled by a well-known bridge-builder of
Chicago. James B. Eads was the chief engineer of
the St. Louis company (known as the St. Louis and
Illinois Bridge Company) ; L. B. Boomer was mana-
ger of the Illinois company, which was known as the
Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company.
The Illinois company was incorporated Feb. 21,
1867, the incorporators being Joseph Gillespie, John
M. Palmer, Jesse K. Dubois, William Shepard, John
Williams, William R. Morrison, L. A. Parks, Levi
Davis, T. B. Blackstone, H. C. Moore, Peter H. Wil-
lard, R. P. Tansey, Gustavus A. Koerner, C. P. Hea-
ton, L. B. Boomer, Fred. T. Krafft, L. B. Parsons,
John Baker, and A. H. Lee.
The officers were L. B. Boomer, president ; R. P.
Tansey, secretary; directors, L. B. Boomer, R. P.
made his drawings to correspond. AVe understand that his
plan is made with strict regard to the measurement of the river
at that point in width and the elevations on either side. He
proposes to cross the river by five spans, each three hundred and
fifty feet, the base of the carriage-way to be sixty feet above the
high water of 1844, or one hundred and twenty feet above ordi-
nary low water, the bridge to rest on piers of rock or cast iron.
The superstructure is to be of lattice-work of wrought iron, well
secured together, with two ways in breadth and two for use, one
placed above the other, the low ways for railroad tracks and the
upper for the ordinary travel of horses, carriages, wagons, etc."
1 " Last winter," said the Republican of July 11, 1855, "the
legislatures of Missouri and Illinois, anticipating the necessity
which might exist for bridging the Mississippi at this point be-
fore the time for reassembling should again come round, passed
the requisite legal provisions for such n purpose."
Tansey, George Judd, William R. Morrison, and C.
Beckwith. The location selected by the Missouri
Company was at the foot of Washington Avenue,
where the width of the river at ordinary stages is but
little over fifteen hundred feet, and the plan consisted
of three steel arches, supported by two masonry piers
in the river and an abutment on each shore. All the
foundations were to be sunk to the rock, which was
known to be nearly ninety feet below low-water at the
site of the east pier. The Illinois company, on the
other hand, had selected a location about half a mile
above, and proposed to build an iron truss-bridge, the
longest spans of which should be three hundred and
fifty feet, supported by piers formed of cast-iron col-
umns, those nearest the Missouri shore to be sunk to
the rock,, and those on the east side bedded in the
sand fifty or sixty feet below low water. For a time
the contest between these two companies was very
sharp, though confined principally to the newspapers
and the courts. In March, 1863, the controversy
was terminated by the nominal consolidation of the
two companies, and the actual absorption of the Illi-
nois company by its rival, to which the former had
sold out, the new corporation taking the name of the
Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company. The officers
of the old St. Louis company retained their positions
in the new organization, and Capt. James B. Eads
continued as chief engineer and a principal stock-
holder.
From the first Capt. Eads was the leading spirit in
the enterprise. As chief engineer during the entire
period of seven years (from 1867 to 1874) occupied
by the building of the bridge, he was responsible for
every novelty, both of design and execution, and his
personal genius impressed itself upon every detail of
the structure.
Col. Henry Flad* was Capt. Eads' first assistant
2 Henry Flad, one of the most distinguished engineers of the
West, was a graduate of the University of Munich, and his first
professional engagement was in connection with hydraulic
works on the Rhine. He came to America at the time of the
German revolution of 1848, and for a period of eleven years
was connected with some of the most important railroads in the
country. In 1854 he removed to Missouri, and was employed
as resident engineer of the Iron Mountain road, a considerable
portion of which was constructed by him. He also made sur-
veys for several other roads in Missouri.
In connection with Mr. Kirkwood, he made plans for the
water-works of Compton Hill and Bissell's Point, and a large
measure of the success of that great improvement is due to his
skill. After the completion of this work he filled the office of
commissioner of water-works for eight years. At the outbreak
of the war he entered the army as a private, but his skill as an
engineer soon brought him into prominence, and he rose rapidly
to the rank of colonel of engineers.
Col. Flad's name will always be associated with that of Capt.
1076
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
throughout, and brought to the work great practical
experience, a ready power of analysis, and mechanical
ingenuity of a high order. He was ably seconded by
Walter Katte. The theory of the structure was the
joint product of Charles Pfeifer and Professor William
Chauvenet, of Washington University.
The presidents of the bridge company in order
were Charles K. Dickson, William M. McPherson,
and Gerard B. Allen. J. C. Cabot was the first sec-
retary, J. H. Britton the first treasurer. Dr. William
Taussig held the position of chairman of the execu-
tive committee through all the administrations.1
All the great foundations of the bridge, two abut-
ments and two river piers, stand on the solid rock
which underlies the ordinary river-bed. The con-
struction of these foundations was the most difficult
part of the work. To interfere as little as possible
with the navigation of the river, and to diminish the
cost of the foundations, the arches were designed
with long spans, and the two channel piers were given
great stability. The contract for the whole of the
masonry work on the bridge was awarded in August,
1867, to James Andrews, of Allegheny, Pa.
The first stone in the western abutment pier was
laid on the bed-rock Feb. 25, 1868 ; the first stone
was laid on the caisson of the east channel pier Oct.
25. 1869, and the first stone on the caisson of the
west channel pier was laid the 15th of January, 1870.
During the first half of the year 1868 the minutest
details of the work were critically examined by the
board of engineers. The mathematical calculations
and investigations were conducted by Col. Flad and
Mr. Pfeifer, and then submitted to Capt. Bads,
and by him referred to the analysis and examination
of Professor W. Chauvenet, LL.D., chancellor of
Washington University. In this way the most won-
derful mathematical exactness was secured. By the
middle of the year the drawings and all the de-
tails of the bridge had been gone through with by
the engineers, and the mighty structure was complete
in the mind of the chief engineer and his assistants.
Eads in connection with the St. Louis bridge and tunnel. He
had charge of all the details of their construction, and it is a
matter of history that on every occasion Capt. Eads insisted
upon a division of the honors of their united success in this
great undertaking. Among other works of Col. Flad may be
mentioned the lowering of the track of the Missouri Pacific Rail-
road through the city, and the concentration of tracks at the
Union Depot.
1 A "History of the St. Louis Bridge, containing a full ac-
count of every step in its construction and erection, and in-
cluding the theory of the ribbed arch and the tests of mate-
rials," written by Professor C. M. Woodward, was published in
1882, by G. I. Jones & Co., of St. Louis.
The foundation of the west abutment was laid in
a coffer-dam at a depth of fifty-five feet below extreme
high water. The other great piers were "sunk " to
much greater depths by the aid of compressed air.
The west pier stands on the rock ninety-one feet below
high water ; the foundation of the east pier is one
hundred and twenty-seven feet below high-water
mark, and the east abutment extends one hundred
and thirty-five feet below the surface of extreme high
water. The sinking of these piers was a great feat
of engineering and full of interest. The sinking of
the east pier is thus described :
The caisson of the east pier was built of iron, and
was eighty-two feet long, sixty feet wide, and nine
feet deep.
The roof and sides were made of thick iron plates
riveted air-tight and strengthened by girders and
brackets. A temporary wooden bottom was used
until the admission of compressed air from powerful
air-pumps kept the interior free from water down to
the " cutting edge" of the caisson. The masonry of
the pier was laid upon the roof of the caisson, which
it completely covered. The weight of the masonry
soon caused the caisson to sink deep in the river, ren-
dering an increased air-pressure necessary to keep
the caisson free of water and to support the load
above. On the roof of the caisson a coffer-dam was
constructed to exclude the river. The caisson was
furnished with bearing-timbers along its walls and
under its roof, and when it reached the river bottom
they rested evenly upon the sand and gave sufficient
support to allow the masonry to be built above the
surface of the river. At this point the guides and
suspension rods which had been used to control the
motion of the caisson were removed, and the further
progress of the pier was effected by undermining the
bearing-timbers and letting the whole mass go down
as additional masonry was laid in the open air above.
The space within the caisson was known as the
" air-chamber," and it is evident that workmen were
needed inside, and that there must be ready means
for passing in and out.
Entrance to and exit from the air-chamber was
through " air-locks," seven in number. These air-
locks were in form vertical cylinders, made of one-
half inch plate-iron. The central lock, which was
six feet in diameter and six feet high, was wholly
within the air-chamber. In fact, the roof of the
caisson formed its upper base. Adjoining this lock
was a second iron cylinder five feet in diameter and
five feet deep, sunk through the roof of the cais-
son and entirely open at the top. The air-lock had
two strong, tight- fitting doors, one communicating
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1077
Extreme High Water.
City Directrix.
A, Air Looks.
B, Air Chamber.
C, Timber Girdo
D, Discharge i
Sand Pump.
E, Sand Pumps.
with the open air-cylinder just mentioned and swing-
ing into the lock, the other opening into the air-
chamber and swinging from the lock. Workmen
generally passed in and out through the central lock.
The method of going in or out was very simple.
The outer door of the air-lock being open, and the
inner one, of course, closed, the party of visitors, for
example, descended into the open cylinder near the
central lock, crawled through the opening into the
lock, and closed the door. A cock
was then opened which allowed
the compressed air from the
chamber to enter the lock. When
the air-pressure within the lock
equaled that in the chamber, the
other door readily swung open
and the party entered the air-
chamber. The time required
in entering depended upon the
pressure in the chamber and
the ability of the persons in the
lock to endure the change. If
the air was let on rapidly, and
the pressure was considerable,
the sensation produced was very
disagreeable. The compression
of the air in the lock was at-
tended by the evolution of heat,
and though the air was saturated
with moisture as well as warm,
there was no difficulty connected
with one's breathing. The only
serious difficulty to a visitor was
felt in his ears. The pressure
upon the exterior of the drum
was very painful unless soon bal-
anced by internal pressure. This
could generally be produced by
vigorously blowing the nose,
thus forcing air into the interior
cavity of the ear. Capt. Eads
found that the act of swallowing
would often give relief, and had
a pail of water and a cup placed
in the lock. In some cases, however, these simple
remedies were of no avail, and intense pain was the
result. In that event the air was admitted very slowly.
In returning from the chamber the operation was
equally simple. The party entered the lock, closed
the inner door, and opened a cock which allowed the
air of the lock to escape to the outside. As soon as
the air-pressure was reduced to that of the atmos-
phere, the outer door was readily opened. The phys-
ical effects of reducing the pressure were very different
from those experienced when going in. The expand-
ing air absorbed heat, and one literally felt the chill
to the very marrow. So much vital heat was lost
that in some cases the effect was very disastrous.
There was much in the habit of undergoing these
changes. Certain air-lock men, whose duty it was to
take visitors, engineers, and workmen in and out,
became so used to sudden changes that they could,
+7'58
METRES.
!•'. Main Entrance
Shaft.
(J, Side Shafts.
H, Iron Envelope.
1, Bracing for Shell.
(). Strengthening
I'.raukets.
SECTION OF EAST PIER AND CAISSON.
without apparent injury or even inconvenience, endure
surprisingly rapid changes of pressure.
As the caisson continued to sink it was necessary
to remove the sand from the air-chamber. This was
done by means of the "sand-pumps," an exceedingly
ingenious device invented by Capt. Eads. The sand
mixed with water was thrown out in jets with great
rapidity. A three-inch pump was capable of discharg-
ing sand at the rate of three hundred cubic yards in
1078
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
twenty-four hours. The pier settled on the average
about fifteen inches per day.
No difficulty was experienced in causing the caisson
to settle evenly and gently. The sand was trenched
beside the bearing-timbers, thus allowing a slight lateral
motion of the sand as it yielded to the pressure. It
was soon learned that the admission of water into the
air-chamber, consequent upon a slight reduction in
the air-pressure, had the effect of increasing the
mobility of the sand so as to bring the caisson down
with an exceedingly gradual motion.
The progress of the east pier down through the
sand is clearly shown in the illustration on the pre-
ceding page. It gives a cross-section of the pier
through the main stairway, a circular well through
which the workmen descended to the air-chamber.
A sand-pump is represented as at work within the
caisson, and men are supplying it with sand.
The intensity of the air-pressure in the air-chamber
of the east pier reached a maximum of about sixty-
five pounds per square inch, or about fifty pounds
above the normal. The physiological effects of long
exposure to this pressure and of sudden release from
it were at times very severe. During the construc-
tion of the deep piers over one hundred men were
violently attacked with cramps and chills, and thirteen
died from them.
The caissons were constructed at Carondelet, under
the direction of the chief engineer and Capt. William
L. Nelson and H. G. McComas, the great caisson for
the last of the channel piers being completed and
launched Oct. 18, 1869.
The whole time occupied in sinking the east pier
to the rock was one hundred and twenty-six days,
during several of which it was too cold to lay ma-
sonry, and at other times it was impossible to furnish
stone on account of the ice.
The west pier was sunk in seventy-seven days.
The east abutment, the largest and deepest of all,
was sunk in one hundred and thirty-four days. The
caisson of the latter contained many improvements
over the others. All the large piers are faced with
gray granite down to low water. All the piers had
reached the rock-bed by the beginning of 1872, and
before the close of that year the masonry was com-
pleted, including the approach arches across the levees
in St. Louis and East St. Louis.
The size of the foundations is shown as follows :
Extreme height from Cubic yards
base to top of cornice, of masonry.
West abutment 112 feet 8J inches. 12,643
West pier 172 " 1 " U,170
East pier 197 " H " 17,820
East abutment 192 " 9 " 24,093
The plan of the superstructure of the great bridge
(which was contracted for Feb. 26, 1870) is as bold
as the foundations and even more original. It con-
sists of three magnificent steel arches, supporting two
railway tracks, and a broad paved causeway for high-
way traffic on the top of the structure.
The spans of the side arches are each five hundred
and two feet in the clear, and the central arch stretches
five hundred and twenty feet over deep water. Each
arch consists of four equal ribs placed side by side at
intervals of sixteen and half feet, twelve feet, and
sixteen and a half feet, these distances being between
centres.
Each rib consists of two parallel members or sys-
tems of tubes, twelve feet apart, connected by a single
system of bracketing, in appearance like a curved tri-
angular truss. Each tube is eighteen inches in ex-
ternal diameter and about twelve feet long, and is per-
fectly straight, with slightly beveled ends. The tubes
of each member are securely coupled together by two
enveloping half-cylinders, and the steel pins which re-,
ceive the brace-bars on their ends pass through both
. couplings and tubes. A tube consists of six bars of
steel, rolled in the shape of straight staves, from one
and three-sixteenths to two and one-eighth inches in
thickness, and snugly inserted in an envelope of steel
i one-quarter of an inch thick.
The tubes are exquisitely made, and the arches as
beautiful as works of art.
The lateral or wind bracing consists of a series of
diagonal steel ties and wrought-iron tubular struts be-
tween the ribs, and an upper truss between the two
roadways. The latter truss for the centre span is of
iron, forty-nine feet wide and five hundred and forty
feet in extreme length.
The erection of the arches was effected by a method
entirely new and of a most interesting character, in-
vented by Col. Henry Flad. Only the briefest ac-
count of its successful execution can be given here.
The end tubes of each rib screw into massive
wrought-iron " skew-backs," which are bolted to the
masonry by long steel bolts six inches in diameter.
In the case of the channel piers the anchor-bolts are
over thirty feet long, passing quite through the ma-
sonry and securing the skew-backs on both faces. In
this way the ribs were made self-supporting, as they
were built out from the masonry. In some instances
nearly a hundred feet was thus built without addi-
tional support. The weight of the unfinished ribs,
however, caused the outer ends to fall below their
normal positions, and it was necessary to draw them
up by cables passing over towers erected on the ma-
sonry. These cables were strained, as occasion re-
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1079
quired, by powerful hydraulic jacks, which lifted the
towers. The cables lifted the deflected arches to
their normal position (and even above it), and allowed
the ribs to be built still farther out. The deflected
ends of these second extensions were supported by
secondary cables, which passed over masts standing
on the ribs at the joints, supported directly by the
primary cables, and thence down to the pins in the
skew-back tubes.
By such means semi-ribs, stretching two hundred
and fifty feet over the Mississippi, were fully sup-
ported until they were successfully " closed" at the
crown. The minute details of the operation of closing
the ribs form an interesting feature in the history of
the bridge. The influence of temperature and elas-
ticity was strikingly shown. The magnitude of the
main cables may be estimated from the fact that they
were made of the best rolled iron, and each had a
cross-section of forty-two square inches.
The total weight of one naked rib of the centre span
is four hundred and eighty-eight thousand two hundred
and two pounds. The total amount of steel in the
three arches is four million seven hundred and eighty
thousand pounds. Of wrought iron there are six
million three hundred and thirteen thousand pounds.
The superstructure of the bridge was constructed
by the Keystone Bridge Company, of Pittsburgh,
Pa., and its cost was $2,122,781.65. The approaches
were built by the Baltimore Bridge Company. The
total cost of the entire bridge, including the approaches,
was $6,536,729.99. If to this we add interest, land
damages, commissions for charters and financial agents,
hospital expenses, etc., the sum total is swelled to
nearly ten million dollars. The bridge was completed
and opened to public travel on the 23d of May,
1874.1
1 " The long-looked-for opening of the bridge to public travel,"
said the Republican of May 24th, "took place yesterday morn-
ing, as previously announced. Six o'clock was the hour fixed
for the opening, but long before that time a great multitude of
people had gathered around the office, each anxious to get the
first ticket. The pressure on the ticket-sellers continued for
two or three hours, and during the entire day they were kept
reasonably busy. Many more tickets were sold than were used,
as many persons, for economy's sake, purchased packages. It
is understood that the recipts for the day were about one thou-
sand dollars."
The first person who purchased tickets on May 23d, accord-
ing to the same authority, was Charles Gallagher, night clerk in
the office of the Republican. In announcing this fact that paper
added, " He was present waiting for the office to open, and has
the following certificate to show the facts :
" ' Charles Gallagher bought first one dollar's worth of tickets
and crossed the bridge.
(Signed) ' F. W. GEISEKER.
'"May 23, 1874.'
On the 9th of June the first train of three passen-
ger-coaches, in which was seated a select party of
about fifty invited guests, connected with the track of
the bridge-approach from the St. Louis and Vandalia
Railway and crossed the river, running as far into the
tunnel as Seventh Street.
At the suggestion of Sylvester H. Laflin, an im-
posing celebration in honor of the completion of the
bridge was held on the Fourth of July, 1874. Bar-
ton Able, George Bain, and other leading citizens of
St. Louis promptly seconded Mr. Laflin's proposition,
and a meeting to take preliminary action was held at
the Merchants' Exchange on the 13th of June. Capt.
Barton Able presided, and George H. Morgan acted
as secretary. A committee was appointed to make
the necessary arrangements, and on the 13th a com-
mittee on programme, Chauncey I. Filley, chairman ; a
finance committee, Sylvester H. Laflin, chairman ; and
a committee jon transportation, Capt. John N. Bofin-
ger, chairman, were selected. On the 1 6th a committee
on printing was appointed, with George H. Morgan
as chairman, and Arthur B. Barret, afterwards mayor
of the city, was made grand marshal of the day. Mr.
Barret subsequently appointed Col. C. Maguire as-
sistant marshal, and G. 0. Kalb and Henry Benecke
as adjutants. The committees as finally completed
were composed of the following persons :
Committee of Arrangements. — Barton Able (chairman), George
H. Morgan (secretary.), S. H. Laflin, George Bain, John S. Cav-
ender, W. H. Maurice, M. J. Lippman, Web. M. Samuel, D. P.
Rowland, John B. Maude, R. M. Scruggs, C. 0. Dutcher, John
N. Bofinger, John W. Carroll, Chauncey I. Filley, L. L. Ash-
brook, C. Maguire, John 0. Farrar, Arthur B. Barret, J. 0.
Broadhead, S. E. Hoffman, L. S. Metcalf, C. M. Woodward,
Charles Osborne, Henry Benecke, George D. Capen, C. L.
Thompson, Henry T. Blow, Charles Speck, Isaac M. Mason,
John Riggin, Jr., Robert A. Campbell, J. B. C. Lucas, H. Clay
Sexton, L. Dorshimer, R. P. Tansey, Daniel G. Taylor, George
Knapp, G. W. Fishback, William McKee, Charles A. Mantz,
Stilson Hutchins, W. V. Wolcott, Emil Preetorius, A. J. Spaun-
horst, Carl Daenzer, Henry Gambs, Daniel Able, W. A. Braw-
ner, H. M. Blossom, M. L. Cohn, D. R. Risley, John McDonald,
Abram Nave, Thomas Kennard, G. W. Chadbourne, E. A. Carr,
George I. Barnett, B. M. Chambers, W. H. Scudder, Daniel Cat-
lin, Joseph Brown, L. A. Moffett, J. T. Howenstein, C. B. Bray,
Miles Sells, Gen. Grierson, Capt. Babbitt, Maj. E. B. Grimes,
Gen. John Turner, Col. C. C. Penrose, Capt. William Hawley,
James Doyle, John H. Beach, Charles Parsons, R. J. Lack-
land, J. G. Chapman, R. C. Clowry, John H. McCluney, G. 0.
Kalb, Wallace Delafield, II. W. Hough, W. A. Hargadine, John
Cantwell, R. M. Renick, J. C. Cabot, George Minch, Charles P.
Warner, James M. Brawner, W. H. Pulsifer, E. S. Walton, A.
W. Slayback, H. H. Wernse, John G. Prather, A. B. Pendle-
" It has been stated, as we understand, that Mr. McMahon, a
superintendent of the bridge, was the first man to cross. This is
incorrect. Mr. McMahon purchased his ticket the night previous,
and was not legitimately a passenger, being an employ^ of the
company. Mr. Gallagher is clearly entitled to the honor."
1080
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
ton, James B. Clemens, William H. Smith, Nicholas Wall, Fred.
Von Phul, W. B. Thompson, Forester Dolhonde, Edmund
Froehlich, N. Stevens, M. M. Buck, Herman Rechtien, Robert j
A. Betts, N. M. Bell, Goodman King, Joseph Franklin, C. N. !
Hoblitzell, J. L. D. Morrison, Joseph A. Wherry, E. S. Mira-
goli.
Committee on Finance. — S. H. Laflin (chairman), John B.
Maude, Chauncey I. Filley, George Bain, C. 0. Butcher, J. T.
Howenstein, S. Metcalf, Arthur B. Barret, George I. Barnett, ;
D. P. Rowland, W. A. Hargadine, John H. McCluney, Wallace ;
Delafield, George D. Capen, C. L. Thompson, H. H. Wernse, L. I
L. Ashbrook, John Cantwell, W. A. Brawner, H. M. Blossom,
M. L. Cohn, Thomas Kennard, Charles Speck, S. M. Dodd, H.
W. Hough, A. W. Slayback, John Kennard, C. B. Bray, E. S.
Walton, James S. Brawner, W. B. Thompson, Robert A. Betts,
Goodman King, Joseph Franklin, C. J. L. Hoblitzell.
Committee on Fireworks. — S. H. Laflin (chairman), W. H.
Maurice, John B. Maude, R. M. Scruggs, D. P. Rowland.
Committee on Programmes and Invitations. — Chauncey I.
Filley (chairman), D. P. Rowland, John B. Maude, Arthur B.
Barret, John W. Carroll, Barton Able.
Committee on Transportation. — Arthur B. Barret (chairman),
John N. Bofinger, S. H. Laflin, R. P. Tansey.
Committee on Printing. — George H. Morgan (chairman),
Leslie A. Moffett, J. T. Howenstein.
Committee on Decorations. — George I. Barnett (chairman),
Dr. J. 0. Farrar, Maj. E. B. Grimes, E. S. Miragoli, Charles
Speck, Daniel Able,D. R. Risley, J. H. McCluney, C. B. Bray,
G. 0. Kalb.
Committee on Ordnance. — Capt. Babbitt (chairman), S. H.
Laflin, F. W. Fuchs, John B. Gray, John S. Cavender.
Committee on Music. — George Bain (chairman), G. H. Mor-
gan, C. 0. Butcher, Rich. J. Compton.
Committee on Harlor and Police. — L. Borsheimer (chairman),
James Boyle, H. Rechtien.
Committee on Fire Department. — H. Clay Sexton.
Press Committee. — George W. Gilson, Democrat; George
Mills, Times ; C. Winter, Westliche Post ; W. B. Stevens, Dis-
patch ; J. G. Bill, Republican; T. Mitchell, Globe ; C. B.
Kargau, Anzeiger ; Lewis Willich, Amerika ; F. Haarson,
Courier ; Thomas J. Meek, Journal ; Charles J. Osborn, agent
Associated Press. •
The programme determined on comprised a pro-
cession, addresses, display of fireworks, etc. The
east and west approaches to the bridge were elabo-
rately decorated, and at the Third Street entrance a
gigantic portrait of Capt. James B. Eads was dis-
played. Immediately underneath the portrait were
exhibited two large symbolical figures, which repre-
sented Missouri and Illinois clasping hands. At the |
east end of the bridge, and just at the point where
the two roadways separate and begin the descent to <
the Illinois shore, a great triumphal arch was erected,
extending from side to side of the bridge, and sur-
mounting a pavilion which separated the two passage-
ways of the arch was a colossal statue of the Goddess
of Liberty. To the left of the Third Street entrance-
gate a platform was erected for the accommodation of
the invited guests. Farther on, on the same side of
the roadway, a series of elevated seats was provided
on one of the buildings adjoining the bridge for the
families of the bridge officials. The decorations were
of an elaborate and tasteful character, and on the
morning of the Fourth of July, beneath a cloudless
sky, presented a beautiful and imposing spectacle.
Many buildings in the city were also decorated, and
at Washington Avenue and Ninth Street a handsome
triumphal arch was erected by St. Xavier's College.
On the wings of the east front the heraldic arms
of the States of Illinois and Missouri were painted,
with the legend above, " A link of steel unites the
East and West ;" and on the western front of the
arch, tastefully decorated with evergreens and fifty feet
high, a medallion portrait of Capt. Eads. On the
wings were the following : " The Mississippi dis-
covered by Marquette, 1673 ; spanned by Capt.
Eads, 1874." "St. Louis founded by Laclede,
1764 ; crowned Queen of the West, 1874."
Salutes in honor of the bridge and the day were
fired by Simpson Battery, under the direction of
Lieut.-Col. F. W. Fuchs, inspecting and mustering
officer for St. Louis City and County, who was placed
in charge of the ordnance and firing for the occasion.
The battery consisted of four guns, four caissons,
and fifty-six men, commanded by First Lieut. Charles
Hiltwein and Second Lieut. A. B. Bayer.
At daylight a salute of thirteen guns was fired by
the battery near the bridge for the old original States.
At nine o'clock A.M. one hundred guns were fired
for the bridge, fifty on each side of the river, by the
same battery, the firing being alternate, commencing
with Missouri. At twelve o'clock (noon) a salute of
thirty-seven guns for the States and Territories of the
Union was fired on the Levee by the ordnance depart-
ment of Jefferson Barracks, under command of Capt.
Babbitt. At daylight a Federal salute, and at nine
A.M. a national salute was fired by Gen. Grierson at
the old arsenal grounds. •
The procession moved at a few minutes past nine
o'clock from the junction of Washington and Jeffer-
son Avenues, headed by a squad of Metropolitan po-
lice under command of Capt. Huebler, and followed
immediately by the grand marshal and his aids, twenty-
two of whom were boys mounted on ponies and wear-
ing uniforms of black jacket, white pantaloons, and
red sash.
Next in order came the following organizations :
Company of United States cavalry, Companies A and
B National Guards, company of Uhlans, Knights of
Pythias, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Knights of
Father Mathew, Druids, Sons of Hermann, members
of the French National Aid Society, Turners, Bohe-
mian Gymnastic Club, Western Star Commandery
(Knights Templar), Same (Encampment), United
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1081
Brethren of Friendship, Mutual Aid Society, Labor-
ers' Aid Society, United League, No. 1, Real Estate
and Beneficial Society, Old Temperance Society, pre-
ceded by the Bavarian Band, Irish American Benev-
olent Society, No. 1.
In addition to these societies the procession com-
prised the following organizations:
Merchants' Exchange, represented by a large ban-
ner bearing a picture of the Exchange, and the offi-
cers and members in carriages.
Fire Department, with engines and apparatus deco-
rated with flags, wreaths of flowers, etc. H. Clay
Sexton, chief, on horseback ; Richard Beggs, J. W.
Barne, and Jacob Trice, assistants, in buggies, and
J. W. Tennelle, secretary, on horseback.
German Singing Societies, Professor E. Froelich,
leader. The societies, headed by the New Orleans
Orchestra, numbered six hundred men, and made a
fine display with banners and decorations.
Mechanics' and Manufacturers' Exchange, with an
Exchange building in miniature. The building had
a large number of windows, each supposed to light
the office of one of the many trades represented in
the Exchange membership, and over each of these
windows was painted the trade represented, such as
" bricklayer," " carpenter," etc. Following this, in
the order in which they were employed, were repre-
sentatives on wagons in long procession of all the dif-
ferent processes necessary to the construction of a
complete house, — architects, excavators, stone-masons,
stone-cutters, brick-makers, bricklayers, architectural
iron-workers, carpenters, stair-builders, roofers, tin-
ners, lightning-rod men, plumbers, plasterers, gas-
fitters, painters and glaziers, paper-hangers, grate and
mantel manufacturers.
The marshal of this department was Henry Mil-
burn, and the following were his aids: T. J. Flanagan,
adjutant; Henry Perks, Lewis Luthy, James Gilfoyle,
C. K. Ramsey, C. Franz, and C. Kammerer.
The directors of the Exchange preceded this portion
of the procession in carriages. They were as follows:
James Luthy, president ; David Cavanaugh, C. H.
Frank, J. H. Maurice, John Norris, William McCully,
C. Lynch, T. P. McKelleget, James Garvin, Martin
Ittner, John Stoddart, A. S. McBride, W. S. Stamps,
secretary.
St. Louis Life Insurance Company, of which Capt.
Eads was president, with afac-simile of the company's
building at Sixth and Locust Streets.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, numbering
from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred men.
Grand officers of Grand Lodge : L. T. Minturn, M.
W. G. M. ; Alfred Bennett, R! W. D. G. M. ; J. S.
Maitland, R. W. G. W. ; E. M. Sloan, R. W. G. Sec. ;
W. H. Thompson, R. W. G. Treas. ;- A. M. Alexander,
M. C. Libby, R. W. G. Representatives ; Rev. E. D.
Isbell, W. G. Chap. ; J. M. Gilkeson, W. G. Marshal.
Past Grand Masters : Gerard B. Allen, Elihu H.
Shepard, Isaac M. Veitch, Henry Holmes, C. C.
Archer, Isaiah Forbes, J. F. Sheifer, J. R. Lackland,
Ira Stansberry, J. C. Nulsen, John Doniphan, E. M.
i Sloan, H. H. Bodeman, M. C. Libby, E. Wilkerson,
| W. H. Thompson.
Grand officers of Grand Encampment : J. J. Meier,
! M. W. G. P. ; J. S. Maitland, M. E. G. H. P. ; E.
1 S. Pike, R. W. G. S. W. ; R. E. McNuly, R. W. G.
I Scribe; William Berry, R. W. G. Treas.; Daniel
Kerwin, E. R. Shipley, R. W. G. Representatives.
Past Grand Patriarchs : A. G. Braun, Alexander
Peterson, Thomas Gerrard, A. G. Trevor, W. H.
| Woodward.
Uniformed Patriarchs: E. Wilkerson, chief mar-
shal ; A. G. Hequembourg, first assistant marshal (in
j command) ; F. A. Cavendish, second assistant mar-
! shal.
First Division, Daniel Kerwin, marshal ; Second
Division, Thomas Bennet, marshal ; Third Division,
j Henry Diers, marshal.
United States officials. The custom -house employes
! exhibited a full-rigged brig, twenty-six feet long, em-
i blematic of commerce, mounted on wheels, and drawn
' by eight horses. The vessel was named the " James B.
i Eads," and was " commanded" by Henry P. Wyman,
special deputy collector. The post-office was repre-
sented by a six-horse wagon bearing the post-office
seal, post- rider, railway train, and telegraph wire, with
coat of arms of the United States, the whole deoorated
with flags, evergreens, etc., three messenger-wagons,
— one each for North, South, and West St. Louis,
— and one hundred letter-carriers, mounted and on
foot.
Brewers' Association, with a representation of King
Gambrinus on his throne, the king being personated
by Jacob Schorr.
The various other trades and industries of St. Louis
were also fully represented by delegations, with ban-
ners, appropriate devices, etc.
The St. Louis Rowing Club had a boat suspended
to a wagon, with oars, flags, and other decorations.
A number of the members of the club were in the
boat, imitating nautical acts.
The Western Rowing Club had two boats and two
teams, likewise accompanied by members of the club,
and finely decorated.
The members of the City Council in carriages, and
all the engines and hose-carriages in the city in holi-
1082
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
day attire, led by Chief Sexton, were the closing fea-
tures of the procession. The engines had hardly
gotten into line, however, after waiting all the fore-
noon, when an alarm of fire was sounded from Seven-
teenth and Franklin Avenue. By a previous under- |
standing, those engines which were already under
head of steam responded to the alarm, and as they
darted through the crowded streets with the horses at
a gallop there was great confusion and excitement.
No accidents happened, however, and order was soon
restored, the procession ending as was laid down in
the programme, after having passed through the prin-
cipal streets in the city to the bridge.
One of the features of the celebration was the pas-
sage of a train of cars across the bridge from East St.
Louis to the exit of the tunnel on the St. Louis side.
The train was composed of fifteen palace sleeping-
cars and three powerful locomotives, contributed by
the Vandalia and Illinois Central Companies. The
entire train was in charge of W. H. Finkbine, con-
ductor on the Vandalia road for twenty-three years.
His assistants were, on the first engine, No. 62, Wil-
liam Consen ; second engine, No. 70, William Vansen.
The brakemen were Job Graves, William Colburn, H.
Schumaker, A. C. Thornton, H. W. Orvell, Thomas
Mirton, John Brown, John Mallory, James Binkley,
M. B. Mason, and Michael Brazill.
The officials of the Vandalia Railway on board the
train in crossing were John E. Simpson, general super-
intendent; N. Stevens, general agent; and N. K. El-
liott, master of transportation.
Among the passengers on the train were Senator L.
V. Bogy, Hon. Silas Woodson, Governor of Missouri;
Governor Beveridge, of Illinois ; Governor Hendricks,
of Indiana ; Judge Napton, St. Louis ; Judge H. M.
Jones, St. Louis; Judge Hamilton, St. Louis; Judge
John M. Krum, St. Louis ; Hon. Hugh Moffat, mayor
of Detroit ; Hon. D. R. Wright, mayor of Oswego,
Kan. ; Hon. E. 0. Stanard, Hon. James S. Rollins,
Columbia, Mo. ; Hon. George Bain, Capt. Bart Able,
Web M. Samuel, president Merchants' Exchange, and
many other leading citizens of St. Louis and elsewhere.
On the grand stand on the open area at the corner
of Washington Avenue and Third Street, were seated
the following persons, named in the order of their
arrival : Gen. W. S. Harney, Hon. T. C. Harris, mem-
ber of the Legislature from Phelps County ; Hon.
George B. Clark, State Auditor ; J. H. Waugh, of
Columbia; Hon. H. Clay Ewing, attorney-general of
Missouri; ex-Governor B. Gratz Brown, Judge Sam-
uel Treat, Hon. E. 0. Stanard, Dr. Samuel Read,
president of Missouri State University ; Hon. John F. j
Cooke, British vice-consul ; Gerard B. Allen, Capt. I
James B. Eads, Barton Able, Maj. Grimes, United
States army ; Hon. James S. Rollins, Hon. L. V.
Bogy, Col. R. B. Price, of Columbia ; Judge John
M. Krum, Chauncey I. Filley, S. D. Barlow, George
I. Barnett, Hon. N. M. Bell, Capt. Samuel Pepper,
ex-Governor Thomas C. Fletcher, Judge Speck, Col.
J. L. D. Morrison, William A. Lynch, Governor Bev-
eridge, of Illinois ; Hon. John D. Perry, Rev. Dr.
Brookes, Maj. -Gen. W. S. Hancock, Richard Dow-
ling, J. Wilson McDonald, the sculptor ; Hon. Web
M. Samuel, president of the Merchants' Exchange ;
John Baptiste Hortey, the oldest native citizen of St.
Louis ; Unit Pasin, David A. Harvey, L. Harrigan,
chief of police; William A. Cozens, Sullivan Blood,
Samuel Hawken, Robert D. Sutton, H. B. Belt, David
A. Harris, Arrible and Antone Cayore, J. H. Britton,
James H. Heath, Hon. Charles H. Hardin and Hon.
David Moore, of the State Senate ; Col. Joseph L.
Stevens, of Boonville ; Capt. John Sibille, a veteran
of the war of 1812 ; Gen. Nathan Ranney, Hon. Wells
Blodgett, Hon. John F. Darby, Col. John L. Phillips,
of Sedalia; John F. Tolle, United States Senator
Ferry, of Michigan ; Hon. Erastus Wells, W. Milnor
Roberts, consulting engineer of the bridge, and C.
Shaler Smith, engineer; Hon. H. C. Brockmeyer,
United States collector; E. W. Fox, Col. D. M.
Renick, Dr. Barret, S. H. Laflin, Col. R. A. Camp-
bell, L. H. Murray, of Springfield, Mo. ; D. Robert
Barclay, Col. Ferdinand Myers, Dr. William Taussig,
Carlos S. Greeley, Governor Woodson, Miles Sells,
State Senator Allen, George Bain, Mayor Brown, Gen.
Wilson, J. R. Lionberger, John Jackson, J. S. Welsh,
N. S. Chouteau, Capt. Fitch, United States navy ; J.
F. How.
Among the ladies who graced the occasion with
their presence were Mrs. Governor Woodson, Mrs.
Governor Brown, Mrs. H. Clay Ewing, Mrs. J. H.
Britton, Miss Hutt, of Troy, Mo. ; Miss Fanny Britton,
Mrs. C. K. Dickson, Miss Dickson, Miss Chouteau,
Mrs. J. Jackson, Mrs. J. B. Eads, Miss Addie Eads,
Mrs. J. H. Britton, Miss F. Britton, Mrs. J. R. Lion-
berger, Miss Lionberger, Mrs. William Taussig, Miss
Taussig, Mrs. H. Flad, Miss Flad, Mrs. G. B. Allen,
Miss Hodgman.
The exercises opened with prayer by Rev. Dr.
Brookes, after which addresses were delivered by Capt.
Barton Able, Hon. Joseph Brown, mayor of St.
Louis, Governor Beveridge, of Illinois, Governor
Woodson, of Missouri, Hon. B. Gratz Brown,1 Capt.
1 In the course of his address Governor Brown gave an inter-
esting sketch of the legislation of Congress in relation to the
bridge, as follows : " Ever since the earliest act incorporating
St. Louis the necessity of establishing some permanent way
THE MISSISSIPPI KIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1083
James B. Eads.1 Governor Hendricks, of Indiana,
and Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, of Michigan. The
speeches were varied with singing by the various
singing societies present, led by Professor E. Froelich.
across the great river has impressed itself upon the minds of our
people. On two or three occasions this has taken shape in char-
ters proposed or passed by the Legislatures of the adjoining
States, but as they were necessarily inoperative in the absence
of any congressional sanction, they failed to attract investment.
At length, however, the demand for greater facilities of transit
forced itself into national importance, and in commemoration of
the enterprise it may be stated that it was on the 4th day of
December, 1865, that notice was given in the Senate of the
United States of intent to bring in a bill to authorize the con-
struction of a bridge across the Mississippi River at the city of
St. Louis. On the 18th day of December the bill was presented
and appropriately referred. It was reported back from the
committee March 22, 1866, and laid over until a subsequent [
day for action. The discussion which followed was animated, :
elicited much hostile criticism, and the bill was only passed
after an elucidation which seemed to render it innocuous in the
eyes of its most violent opponents. Subsequently a bill re-
lating exclusively to bridges and post-routes on the upper Mis-
sissippi caine back to the Senate from the House of Representa-
tives, and was referred to the Committee on Post-offices. The
bill, which had passed the Senate, it was found had been sup-
pressed in the committee of the House. The situation was
critical, the calendar was loaded down, the session was closing.
It was then that the appeal was made to the committee in the
Senate to engraft by way of amendment the Senate bill upon
the House bill, and after much (fontroversy this was finally as-
sented to, so reported back and passed, the House concurring
therein in the expiring hours of the Congress.
" It was in virtue of riparian rights conceded by Illinois and
Missouri, under the sanction of an act of the National Congress,
and sustained by the indorsement of our own Chamber of Com-
merce, that this bridge was undertaken. Historically, therefore^
it seemed to grow out of the necessities of the age. But the
point to which I wish to invite your attention is this, that, so
great was the antagonism from rival commercial routes, it was
only when the provisions of the congressional act had been
made to declare that the central span should not be less than
five hundred feet nor the elevation less than fifty feet above the
city directrix that hostility could be so allayed as to permit the
passage of the bill. It was upon the tacit assumption by its
opponents of its utter impracticability that antagonism gave
way. In fact, the utterance was then and there boldly made
that the genius did not exist in the country capable of erecting
such a structure. Others, however, had more faith, and to-day
you behold the accomplishment of what was thus derided as im-
possible; you see the requirement of the law fulfilled in all its
strictness; you see those spans of five hundred feet leaping
agile from base to base; you see those tapering piers bedded on
the immovable rock, deep down below the homeless sands, and
rising to gather the threads of railways and roadways high in
the upper air; and you see, caught as if by inspiration, beauty
there in all its flowing proportion, and science there in its rare
analysis of the strength of materials, and an endurance there
for all time in its bond of iron and steel and granite to resist
force and fire and flood."
1 With regard to the permanence of the structure, Capt. Eads
said, " I am justified in declaring that the bridge will exist just
as long as it continues to be useful to the people who come after
us, even if its years should number those of the pyramids. That
In addition to the ceremonies at the bridge, there
was a display of steamboats in the harbor, which were
arranged near the bridge according to " the rainbow
plan," the boats taking position in three tiers, the
smallest vessels being in front.
At night there was a grand display of fireworks
from the bridge, among the pieces being a representa-
tion of the bridge itself, a colossal statue of Washing-
ton, a grand " Temple of Honor," with a statue of Capt.
Eads in the centre, and a representation of the new
Chamber of Commerce building.
The bridge as it now stands is one of the marvels
of modern engineering. It is a two-story structure,
the great arches which we have described carrying
double-track railways, and above, a broad highway
seventy-five feet in width. On this are promenades
on either side and four tracks or iron tramways for
street-cars and ordinary road-wagons. Thus four ve-
hicles may be hauled abreast along this spacious ele-
vated roadway and then not blockade it so as to prevent
persons passing on foot and on horseback.
This roadway is formed by transverse iron beams
twelve inches in depth, supported by iron struts of
cruciform sections resting on the arches at the points
where the vertical bracings of the latter are secured.
The railways beneath are carried on transverse arch-
like beams of steel secured to the struts, which, based
upon the arches, support the right of the carriageway
as well. Between the iron beams forming the road-
ways four parallel systems of longitudinal wooden
members are introduced, extending from pier to pier,
which serve the purpose of maintaining the iron in
position. The ends of these wooden beams rest upon
the flanges of the beams, and are thus secured from
moving. On these the sills of the roadway and the
cross-ties of the railways are laid. From the oppo-
site ends of the iron beams, a double system of diag-
its piers will thus endure but few will doubt, while the peculiar
construction of its superstructure is such lhat any piece jn it can
be easily taken out and examined, and replaced or renewed,
without interrupting the traffic on the bridge. The effect of
temperature upon the arches is such that in oold weather the
lower central tubes and the upper abutment tubes composing the
spans are so relieved of strain that any one of them may be un-
coupled from the others and easily removed. In hot weather
the upper ones of the centre and the lower ones near the piers
may be similarly removed. In completing the western span,
two of the lower tubes of the inside ribs near the middle of the
span were injured during erection, and were actually uncoupled
and taken out without any difficulty whatever after the span
was completed, and two new ones put in their place within a
few hours.
"This is a feature in its construction possessed by no other
similar work in the world, and it justifies me in saying that this
bridge will endure as long as it is useful to man."
1084
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
onal horizontal iron bracing serves to bind the whole
firmly together, and gives additional support against
wind-pressure.
The calculation made for the strength of the bridge
was that it should carry the weight of the greatest
number of people who could stand on the roadway
above, and at the same time have each railway track
below covered from end to end with locomotives, and
this enormous load to tax the strength of the bridge
to the extent of less than one-sixth of the ultimate
strength of the steel of which the arches have been
constructed. It is computed that the ultimate strength
of the material of which this structure is composed
will sustain on the three arches twenty-eight thousand
nine hundred and seventy-two tons before it would
give way under it. The maximum load, however,
which can be allowed on the bridge at any one time
is much less than the enormous burden which we have
mentioned. The weight of the bridge and the load
which it should sustain at the maximum of the al-
lowance for perfect safety is 7 ^5- tons per lineal
foot, or about 10,865 tons. The thrust of each end
of the arch is received on a surface of granite equal
to 24 square feet, and as each span has four arches, it
follows, therefore, that the thrust of the arches is re-
ceived on a surface of 576 square feet of granite. At
10,000 pounds to the square inch — a low rate of
strength for granite — to crush it 414,770 tons would
be required. A weight so enormous could never be
placed on the piers or arches. No danger then exists
of the piers being crushed by the tremendous thrust of
the immense five hundred feet arches.
There is no other bridge of the arch or truss pat-
tern which can be compared to this. The Kuilinburg j
bridge across the Leek, an arm of the Rhine, or rather j
the Zuyder Zee, in Holland, which is one of the most
famous structures of the kind in Europe, is a truss
bridge of 515 feet span. The Menai bridge is an
arch of 500 feet.
The eastern approach is a great work apart from
the bridge to which it leads. This portion of the
work was executed by the Baltimore Bridge Company,
under the supervision of Col. C. Shaler Smith. The
grand highway, leaving the stone arch supports on the
East St. Louis side, is carried across a space of some
sixty feet on immense steel columns, which support
great iron girders. About eighty feet from the stone
arch the' road divides, and begins to descend at the
rate of about three feet to the hundred. This divis-
ion was rendered essential in order to conduct the
railway tracks along at a rate of descent of about one
foot to the hundred. About four hundred feet to the
eastward of the bridge proper the highways and rail-
road tracks are on a level. But the railways from
that point eastward, because of its easier grade, are
elevated above the roadways on either side. At Third
Street, East St. Louis, the highways are terminated
on the level of the street. Where the grade of the
railways rises about ten feet above the grade of the
carriageways there is a broad level platform, and a
double roadway turns westward under the railway and
reaches the grade of the street on Second Street. The
roadways from this turning platform are continued on
to the level of Dike Avenue beyond, about two hun-
dred feet. The railways are conducted over Dike
Avenue, East St. Louis, on an iron viaduct, at a grade
of one foot to the hundred, about three thousand
feet, to the east bank of Cahokia Creek, where it at-
tains the level of the concentring railways. The
railways and the roadways as well turn an easy curve
to the northeast when about two hundred and fifty
feet east of the stone piers. This approach of itself
is a great work splendidly accomplished.
The situation of the bridge and the peculiar topog-
raphy of the city made it impossible that the work
could be accomplished without rendering the construc-
tion of a subterranean approach necessary. * If the
bridge had been built on a more elevated plan it
would have necessitated the passage of steam-pro-
pelled trains across and tnrough the thronged thor-
oughfares of a populous city. Had the bridge been
located at Biddle or Bates Street it would have been
necessary to carry the railways over the streets and
on out Cass Avenue, a much-traveled thoroughfare.
The height of the bridge above the water is the mini-
mum which a due regard for the great navigation in-
terests of the river would have permitted. The western
landing of the bridge is on one of the highest points
of Third Street. The grade brings the highway from
the bridge arches down to the level of this street,
leaving at that place a depth of fourteen feet in which
to commence the underground passageway from the
bridge to the Mill Creek^ valley. It seems as though
nature intended that in St. Louis a mighty railway
interest should concentrate and be provided with facili-
ties for the transaction of business without iuterferin°'
O
with intercommunication in the city. In the future,
even more than now, will the selection of a location
for the bridge, which necessitated a tunnel, be es-
teemed the wisest that could have been made. The
great traffic of the railways can go on and the throng-
ing myriads of the city's population will rush along
undisturbed by the trains that carry the products of
a vast continent underneath the ground.
It was early seen that an approach tunnel would
have to be built to get trains to the western terminus
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
1085
of the bridge. Indeed, that followed inevitably the
Eads location of the bridge itself. For the construc-
tion of the tunnel a company was organized with Dr.
William Taussig as president.
After mature consideration a plan was drawn up
which involved the building of a double tunnel, and
was adopted. A route along Washington Avenue to
Seventh Street, with a curve from that point to Eighth
and Locust Streets, thence down Eighth Street to Pop-
lar, was selected, and arrangements perfected to put
the work under contract.
The necessary financial arrangements, surveys, and
estimates having been made, the tunnel company, in
the autumn of 1872, awarded a contract to Messrs.
Skrainka & Co., who, after working several months,
threw up the contract, which was then awarded to
James Andrews, of Allegheny, Pa. The new con-
tractor set about the execution of the task April 16,
1873, with great energy. A large number of laborers
were employed, and the work of excavating the great
tunnel and building the huge stone walls to support
the heavy arches was pushed forward with great ra-
pidity.
It was no small task the contractor had assumed.
Before it was completed there had been removed two
hundred and fifteen thousand cubic yards of earth
from the tunnel canal, and the stone masonry required
on the work was fifty thousand cubic yards. Thirteen
millions of bricks have been used in the arches of this
great underground passageway. The. whole length
of the tunnel is four thousand eight hundred and
eighty feet, or sixteen hundred and twenty-three yards
and one foot, almost one mile. There are two tunnels
really, divided by a heavy wall which supports the
arches that spring from it in either direction. The
width of these tunnels is fourteen feet each, except
at the curve, where they are fifteen feet wide. From
the top of the rail to the interior crown of the arches
the height is sixteen feet six inches.
The arrangement of a double tunnel covered under
the street by two longitudinal arches not only renders
collisions in the tunnel absolutely impossible, but also
greatly increases the strength of the arches, which
not only support their own weight, but must carry the
weight of the streets and the immense traffic of the
most traveled thoroughfare in the city. On Eighth
Street between Locust and Olive, the location of the
new post-office, the roof of the tunnel is composed of
immense longitudinal iron girders, supported on heavy
cast-iron pillars. On these longitudinal sills of iron
rest lateral girders scarcely less ponderous. The
spaces between these are filled by transverse brick
arches. At this point the roadways open wider so as
69
to admit of the exchange of mails. By means of
hopper-like receptacles the mail on the cars may be
completely discharged in thirty seconds, and a similar
place of deposit for the outgoing mails enables the
train agent to get the bags on board in about the same
time.
The distance from the entrance of the tunnel at its
southern terminus to the northern terminus of the
railway approach east of Cahokia Creek, East St.
Louis, is eleven thousand feet, which is three thou-
sand six hundred and sixty-six yards and two feet, or
two miles, one hundred and forty-six yards, and two
feet. This is really the length of the bridge railway.
The last stone for the arches of the tunnel was
placed in position Thursday, June 24, 1874. During
the progress of the work two serious mishaps to the
tunnel delayed operations for a time. In 1873 about
two hundred feet of the massive stone wall of the
open cut was overthrown during a great rain-storm by
the tremendous pressure of twenty-eight feet of water
collected behind. In the winter of 1874 a serious
break in the completed tunnel took place on Wash-
ington Avenue above Sixth Street. These were re-
paired. In the first case the wall had to be rebuilt,
in the last the arch was taken out, the wall strength-
ened, and the arch replaced. Notwithstanding so many
men were employed, and there was so large an amount
of work, there were comparatively few fatal casualties.
The railway tracks were completed through the tunnel
in July, 1874.
On the 20th of December, 1878, the bridge was
sold under foreclosure of mortgage, at the east front
of the court-house, a little after twelve o'clock. The
sale was in virtue of a decree of the United States
Circuit Court, rendered on the 17th of October, in
the suit of John Pierpont Morgan and Solon Hum-
phreys against the bridge company and others. Eze-
kiel W. Woodward was the commissioner appointed
to make the sale, and the property to be sold included
the bridge proper, its approaches in St. Louis and
East St. Louis, and all its appurtenances, franchises,
and other property. The terms of the sale were fifty
thousand dollars to be paid in bidding off the prop-
erty, and the balance in the manner described in the
decree of the court. The purchaser was also to pay
in cash, on the confirmation of the sale by the court,
the costs of the suit, including the expenses of sale,
commissions to the trustees, and fees to the solicitors
and counsel as determined by the court, and in addi-
tion to and over his bid. in cash, the amount of the
certificates of the indebtedness of the receivers in the
suit that were outstanding and amounting to three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, more or less.
1086
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Bidding was invited, and Charles B. Tracy bid two
million dollars. There the matter hung, and all the
eloquence of the auctioneer was futile to procure an-
other bid. When it became quite certain that no
advance would be made on Mr. Tracy's bid, the auc-
tioneer, with the usual warning of " once, twice, three
times," knocked down the bridge at two million dollars.
The name being called for, Mr. Tracy announced An-
thony J. Thomas, of New York, as the purchaser.
On inquiry Mr. Thomas was ascertained to be a mer-
chant in New York, who had bought the bridge for
the first mortgage bondholders, who were also the
principal, if not the sole, holders of the second mort-
gage bonds.
E. W. Woodward stated subsequently that the
bridge had failed to yield enough money to pay the
interest on its indebtedness. There were three mort-
gages. The fourth one was canceled and wiped out
of existence. The suit for foreclosure was brought
by the first and second bondholders jointly. The
bridge company organized soon after the sale by the
election of J. Pierpont Morgan and Solon Hum-
phreys, of New York ; and Gerard B. Allen, Julius
Walsh, and Kzekiel W. Woodward, of St. Louis, as
directors. The new company thereupon elected the
following officers : Solon Humphreys, president ;
Ezekiel W. Woodward, vice-president ; Edward
Walsh, secretary ; and Anthony J. Thomas, treas-
urer.
On the 1st of July, 1881, the bridge was leased to
the Missouri Pacific and Wabash, St. Louis and Pa-
cific Eailway companies at an annual rental equaling
interest on bonds, semi-annual dividends on first pre-
ferred stock at the rate of five per cent, per annum
for three years to and ending in July, 1885, and there-
after at the rate of six per cent. ; and semi-annual
dividends of three per cent, on second preferred
stock, the first payment to be made July 1, 1884.
Dividends payable in gold free of all charges. The
companies further agreed to pay all taxes, assess-
ments, and other charges ; to pay two thousand five
hundred dollars a year for maintaining organization,
and to provide and maintain offices for the company
in St. Louis and New York. In addition it is pro-
vided that the bonds of the company as they mature
shall be paid by the lessee companies. The funded
debt consists of $5,000,000 seven per cent, gold
bonds, dated April 1, 1879, due 1928; interest pay-
able April and October ; first preferred stock $2,490,-
000 ; second preferred stock $3,000,000 ; common
stock $2,500,000. The directors of the St. Louis
Bridge Company in 1882 were Solon Humphreys,
J. Pierpont Morgan, New York ; E. W. Woodward,
Gerard B. Allen, Edward Walsh, Jr., St. Louis, Mo. ;
President, Julius S. Walsh, St. Louis.
One of the most active and energetic promoters of
the great bridge enterprise was John R. Lionberger,
who was a director of the company from its incipiency,
1 and a member of the executive and construction com-
I mittee. Mr. Lionberger was a stanch, unwavering
supporter of the project through its darkest hours,
and contributed his share and something more to-
wards providing means to resume work on the bridge
and push its construction to completion.
John Robert Lionberger was born in Virginia,
Aug. 22, 1829. As the name indicates, his father
was of German, his mother of English-Scotch descent^
— a mixture of blood calculated to produce an enter-
prising and aggressive race. His father was engaged
in mercantile business in Virginia, which he resumed
upon the removal of the family, in 1837, to Boonville,
Cooper Co., Md.
Up to the age of sixteen young Lionberger attended
the Rioted Kemper's Academy in Boonville, and sub-
sequently entered the University of the State of Mis-
souri at Columbia, and took a classical course. Al-
though thus equipped with an education which fitted
him for a professional career, his tastes led him to
engage in mercantile pursuits, and he spent some
years thus occupied at Boonville. The small and
quiet town, however, offered at best only a limited
prospect to a young man of energy and enterprise,
and in 1855 he removed to St. Louis, and established
the wholesale boot- and shoe-house of Lionberger '&
! Shields, on Main Street. This partnership lasted
some two years, when Mr. Lionberger purchased Mr.
Shields' interest, and for some time managed the
business as sole proprietor under his own name.
Subsequently junior partners were admitted, and the
firm became known as J. R. Lionberger & Co., under
which title it flourished until 1867, when he retired,
leaving to his associates a well-established and pros-
perous trade, and having made for himself a fortune
and reputation for rectitude and business sagacity
second to none of the merchants of that period.
But in retiring from trade he did not retire from
business. On the contrary, he immediately entered
upon a field of much greater activity, and thenceforth
his energies were exerted in connection with many
enterprises of great public importance, and promising
much to the city of his adoption. All the great pro-
jects of the past twenty-five years have had his earnest
and energetic support. He has been foremost in devel-
oping the transportation system of St. Louis, and was
specially prominent in the affairs of the North Mis-
souri Railroad. When the fortunes of that road were
\
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1087
at a low ebb, the company with which he was identi-
fied took the road and completed it to Kansas City
and the Iowa State line. As has been seen, he was
very active and efficient in promoting the construction
of the bridge across the Mississippi. He was also a
director of the Chamber of Commerce Association,
and a member of the building committee which su-
pervised the erection of the Merchants' Exchange,
perhaps the most stately and ornamental structure of
which the city can boast. He is a member of the Board
of Trade, and has served it in many honorable and use-
ful capacities ; was a delegate to the Boston Convention
of the National Board, and was also its representative
in the New Orleans Convention, where his fellow-
delegates showed their estimation of his character as
a representative business man of St. Louis by electing
him their chairman. It may therefore be said with-
out exaggeration that in all matters relating to the
public welfare, and in all enterprises undertaken for
the benefit of the city, Mr. Lionberger has manifested
the keenest interest, and has contributed generously
of his own means towards any object that seemed
likely to build up St. Louis.
One of the later enterprises which he has assisted,
and one of the most important, is the Union Depot
and Shipping Company, which in 1881 erected a ware-
house with an elevator five hundred by seventy feet,
and four stories high, with an elevator capacity of
seven hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain.
Other corporations with which Mr. Lionberger has
been connected have done much to improve the city
in the erection of tasteful and ornamental buildings.
When the street railway system was introduced,
Mr. Lionberger at once appreciated its importance as
an agency in developing the city, and promptly gave
it his attention and support. He is a large owner of
street railway stock, and his efforts have always been
directed towards the management of the street car
companies with reference to the convenience of the
community.
Mr. Lionberger was one of the organizers of the
Safe Deposit Company, one of the most substantial
corporations of its kind in the country, and has been
its president for several years. He was also one of
the organizers of the old Southern Bank in 1857,
served actively as a director, and was for many years
its vice-president. When in 1864 it organized under
the National banking law and became the Third
National Bank, Mr. Lionberger retained his interest
in the corporation, and in 18G7 was elected president,
a position which he held until 1876, when he re-
signed and made a long European journey. On his
return from abroad he was elected vice-president, in
which position his judgment and foresight have con-
tributed largely towards making the bank one of the
strongest and most highly respected financial insti-
tutions in the Mississippi valley. In December,
1882, after twenty-five years of continuous service in
different capacities, he resigned the vice-presidency
and directorship in this institution.
In 1852, Mr. Lionberger married Miss Margaret
M. Clarkson, of Columbia, Mo., a lady of engaging
and estimable qualities, and their union has yielded
four children.
The many public positions which Mr. Lionberger
has held have exposed him to the severest scrutiny
of the community, which has only served to demon-
strate his sterling integrity, and to set forth conspicu-
ously his pure and unblemished character. As a
public-spirited man, he occupies a prominent place
among the citizens of St. Louis, while in private life
he is esteemed for his engaging qualities of head and
heart. His work is not yet finished, and if the past
is any augury of the future, it may be assumed that
he will for many years to come be heard of in con-
nection with schemes to advance the public good and
further still more the " manifest destiny" of St. Louis.
CHAPTER XXVII.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
AFTER the bark canoe, in the progress of naviga-
tion on the Mississippi, came the Mackinaw boat, car-
rying from fifteen hundredweight to three tons, and
then the keel-boat, or barge, capable of carrying from
thirty to forty tons. The first appearance of the keel-
boat on the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio
of which there is any account was in 1751, when a
fleet of boats, commanded by Bossu, a captain of French
marines, ascended as far as Fort Chartres. This en-
terprise, also, was the first to ascertain by actual ex-
perience the perils of navigating the Mississippi. One
of the boats, the " Saint Louis," struck a sand-bar
above the mouth of the Ohio, and was unladen and
detained two days. Three days later, says the traveler,
" my boat ran against a tree, of which the Mississippi
is full ; . . . the shock burst the boat, and such a
quantity of water got in that it sunk in less than an
hour." * This was probably the first commercial boat
" snagged" on the Mississippi. From three to four
months were required to make a voyage from New
1 Bossu, vol. i. p. 114.
1088
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Orleans to the settlement in the vicinity of St. Louis.
For years afterwards, and until the era of steam navi-
gation, a journey on the river was a matter of no small
moment, serious consideration, and prudent domestic
and personal preparation. It had to be made on craft
of a peculiarly constructed and constricted form, having
but limited living arrangements, and of slow, uncertain
progress, where, besides being deprived of the usual
comforts of even an ordinarily-supplied home, the trav-
eler was thrown into immediate association with a wild,
reckless, rollicking set of voyageurs, whose manual
labors alone aided or urged the craft, either with or
against wind and current, by the use of oars, poles, i
and other contrivances. The shippers on these boats,
after forwarding their goods and products thereon, were
satisfied to have returns therefrom in five or six months
after the shipment, and not very much surprised or
disappointed when they heard that boat and cargo were
resting quietly on the bottom of the river, near the
foot of some snag, or upset in a storm, or reposing
high and dry on a sand-bar, where they must remain
till the next high water floated them off. True, such
disasters and delays were not always attendant upon
this mode of navigation, — if they had been, the whole
system would have fallen into disuse very soon and
altogether, — but they were of frequent occurrence, and
were viewed as being, more or less, a natural result of
the primitive powers and material they were compelled
to bring into service.
Flat-boats (of about the same model we have now)
and barges were the kind of craft mostly in use on the
Ohio and Mississippi and their navigable tributaries
at the beginning of the immigration and settlements
along those rivers, in the early part of this century,
and for several of the closing decades of the previous
century, the former for transporting their few market-
able products, and for the conveyance of families and
stock to new settlements that could be reached, or
mainly so, by water. As the country became more
populous and developed, the interchange of products
and manufactures became a desirable necessity, espec-
ially along and with the southern coasts and towns.
For this purpose barges were introduced and made
common carriers, up and down, and from point to
point. Like flat-boats, they were broad and square at
the ends, but were raked fore and aft, and instead of
being entirely covered in, not more than half their
hull was decked over, and on the part thus decked a
cabin was placed for the use of the crew and such
few passengers as might venture with them. The re-
mainder was left open, or only oar-decked, where was
stored the cargo, which was covered with some suita-
ble material to protect it from the weather. The
space under the cabin was devoted to stowage also.
Being designed for continued and active service,
they were stronger, better built, and more properly
fitted out for navigation than flat-boats, and instead of
being sold at the end of the trip for whatever they
would bring, or otherwise disposed of (as the flat-
boat was), were brought back to their home-ports by
the crew, against winds and current, by a constant
and arduous heaving on oars, poles, and cordelles, with
an occasional use of the sail when the breeze was
sufficiently strong and favorable. Many of these crafts
were owned and run by individuals who made barge-
ing their avocation, and in person commanded and
controlled their operations, but established lines of
barges (not regular) owned by companies or firms
were not uncommon from the principal towns of the
upper rivers to New Orleans, the boats of which
were placed in charge of competent men experienced
in river navigation, who acted as patroon (captain)
and pilot, aided by a crew of their own selection.
These boats carried from one hundred to two hundred
tons, and some as much as four hundred, but not
many, the latter being too unwieldy and unmanage-
able, and difficult to land except in high water. The
trip down, say from Cincinnati or St. Louis to New
Orleans, was made in about five weeks, unless they
were favored with bright nights, when it would be made
more quickly. The return occupied eighty or ninety
days, and frequently much longer. The crew was
eight to fifteen men on the downward and twenty to
thirty-six on the upward trip. Fast time was fre-
quently attempted, and often successfully performed
according to the prevailing ideas. A quick trip was
made in February, 1811, by the keel-boat "Susan
Amelia," which descended from the Falls of the Ohio
to Natchez in fourteen days and five hours. This
trip was a famous one in its day, and the boat's time
from and to different points was made the standard of
swiftness for many years, as was that of the steamer
" J. M. White" in a later day. But it was deemed
a very risky and imprudent exhibition by the cautious
men of the time. An old river chronicler in speak-
ing of it said, " Nothing ought to induce such run-
ning but a case of life and death."
" Before the panting of the steam-engine was heard
on these (Western) waters," says Lloyd's Steamboat
Directory, " the only river contrivance for conveyance
of freight and passengers was a species of boat called
a barge, or largee, according to French nomenclature.
The length of this boat was from seventy-five to one
hundred feet; breadth of beam from fifteen to twenty
feet ; capacity from sixty to one hundred tons. The
receptacle for the freight was a large covered coffer,
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1089
called the cargo-box, which occupied a considerable
portion of the hulk. Near the stern was an apology
for a cabin, a straitened apartment six or eight feet in
length, in which the aristocracy of the boat, viz., the
captain and patroon, or steersman, were generally
quartered at night. The roof of the ' cabin' was
slightly elevated above the level of the deck, and on
this eminence the helmsman was stationed to direct the
movements of the boat. The barge was commonly
provided with two masts, though some carried but one.
The chief reliance of the boatmen was on a square
sail forward, which when the wind was in the right
direction accelerated the progressive motion of the
boat and relieved the hands, who at other times were
obliged to propel the barge by such laborious methods
as rowing, warping, and the cordelle."
Keel-boating proper was an institution of a later
day. The keeled craft were not in general use on the
rivers until 1808-9, though all the early river navi-
gation is now referred to under the generic term of
keel-boating. Naturally the bargemen became the
keel-boatmen ; the commercial interests, designs, and
working of the two modes were, in fact, about the
same, and, for all the purposes of the present sketch,
essentially alike. But keel-boats were much of an
advance over barges in celerity and diminution of time
and labor. They were longer and narrower, had a keel-
shaped, instead of a broad flat bottom, carried as much
freight on a less amount of current expenses, furnished
less resisting surface, and therefore were more easily
handled in cross currents, bends, and other places re-
quiring speedy movement, made quicker trips, and
for several other good reasons became in a short time
after their introduction the universal freight-carriers,
holding their position as such for nearly twenty
years, or until the running of steam-craft came with
a sufficient frequency and tonnage to supply the de-
mands of commerce, when of course they were aban-
doned for the superior advantages offered by steam-
boats. They were also generally quite artistically
built, presenting a neat appearance on the water, in
many respects resembling the canal-boats of this day.
As a rule, however, the river-craft was unshapely and
cumbrous. The lines of least resistance were not
then understood, and different kinds of boats were
used according to the needs of the locality and the
nature of the freight, including canoes, pirogues,
barges, keel- and flat-boats. " The Indian birch canoe
was ordinarily thirty feet long, four feet wide in the
broadest part, two and a half feet deep in the centre,
and two feet deep at each end. The pirogue was
larger than the canoe, but smaller than the other
other boats. The barge was wider, but not so long
as the keel-boats, and was chiefly used between St.
Louis and New Orleans. The barges sometimes had
a capacity of forty tons. The boats designed for the
Indian trade were of peculiar construction, from
forty to sixty feet in length, with low sides and a
bottom almost flat. Their narrowness and light
draught fitted them for swift or shallow water. In
ascending the river, the boatmen, in order to prevent
a useless expenditure of strength, avoided the rapid
current of the channel of the river and sought the
slower water near the shore ; and in order that they
might approach close to the bank, the boats were
constructed with a flat bottom and provided with
short oars. The low side of the boat, by bringing
the oarlock nearer to the water, lessened the resist-
ance, and consequently lightened the labors of the
rowers. The capacity of these boats varied from fif-
teen thousand to twenty-five thousand pounds, and the
size of the crew was determined by the allowance of
one boatman for every three thousand pounds of
freight. The oarsmen were generally Creoles and
French mulattoes.
" The crookedness of the Mississippi between St.
Louis and New Orleans necessitated long detours.
In one place a circuit of fifty-four miles represented
an actual gain of only five miles ; at another point the
neck of a bend thirty miles long was but a mile
and a half across. In ascending these bends the boats
always avoided the concave side of the stream, for the
double purpose of escaping the force of the current
and the peril of caving banks. Large masses of earth
undermined by the action of the water sometimes fell
suddenly into the river, and a boat overtaken by such
an accident was in imminent danger of submersion.
In order to shun this risk, as well as to avoid the main
current of the stream, the boats kept close to the con-
vex bank of the bends. The extreme crookedness of
the river necessitated frequent crossings, and it has
been stated that the number of times a boat was com-
pelled to cross the Mississippi in the ascent from New
Orleans to St. Louis was three hundred and ninety.
These crossings, and the distance that a heavily
freighted boat would be borne down stream in going
from one side to the other, added nearly five hundred
miles to the length of the voyage. In descending the
river the boatmen reversed their course of action, and
followed the concave side of the bends in order to
avail themselves of the effective aid of the current.
In violent storms or high winds, when it was not safe
to move, the boats were fastened to trees on the oppo-
site bank.
" A voyage from St. Louis to New Orleans and re-
turn occupied from four to six months ; consequently
1090
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
only two round trips could be made in a year. Even
with the assistance of sails, a row-boat could not make
the ascent in less than seventy or eighty days. A
keel-boat could be brought by cordelle from Louisville
to St. Louis in twenty-five days."1 In addition to
the use of sails and oars, " warping," " cordelling,"
and " poling" were employed as means of propulsion.
" In ' warping' a long rope was fastened to some im-
movable object on the bank, and then the crew, stand-
ing in the bow and pulling hand over hand, drew the
boat forward ; the hands of the crew serving the pur-
poses of a capstan. The progress was slow but steady.
In ' cordelling' the crew walked along the bank and
drew the boat after them by means of a rope. It was,
in fact, identical with canal-boat navigation, except
that the motive-power was men instead of mules or
horses. ' Poling' consisted in pushing the boat up
stream by the aid of long poles. The men succes-
sively took their places at the bow, and firmly resting
their poles on the bed of the river, walked towards
the stern pushing the boat forward. Whenever a man
reached the stern, he pulled up his pole and ran rap- ;
idly back to resume his place in the line. Hence the
spaces on each side of the boat where this con-
stant circuit was going on were called the ' running
boards.' " 2
The boatmen were a class by themselves, a hardy, |
adventurous, muscular set of men, inured to constant
peril and privation, and accustomed to severe and un-
remitting toil. For weeks, and even months at a
time, they saw no faces but those of their companions
among the crew or in some passing craft, and their
days from dawn until dark were spent in constant
work at the oars or poles, or tugging at the rope either
in the boat or on the shore, as they were employed
either in warping or cordelling. At night, after
" tying up," their time was generally spent in gaming,
carousing, story-telling, etc., the amusements of the
evening being varied not infrequently with a fisticuff
encounter.
The labor involved in their occupation was of the
severest character, and the constant and arduous ex-
ercise produced in most of them an extraordinary
physical development. So intense was the exertion
usually required to propel and guide the boat that a
rest was necessary every hour, and from fourteen to
twenty miles a day was all the progress that could be
made against the stream. The sense of physical
power which naturally accompanied the steady exer- j
cise of the muscles inspired the average boatman not
merely with insensibility to danger, but a bellicoseness
«f disposition which seems to have been characteris-
tic of his class. The champion pugilist of a boat
was entitled to wear a red feather in his cap, and this
badge of pre-eminence was universally regarded as a
challenge to all rivals.3
In summer the boatmen were usually stripped to
the waist, and their bodies, exposed to the sun, were
tanned to the swarthy hues of the Indian ; in winter
they were clothed in buckskin breeches and blankets,
(capots), a grotesque combination of French and In-
dian styles which gave their attire a wild and peculiar
aspect. Their food was of the simplest character.
" After a hard day's toil," says Monette,4 " at night
they took their ' fillee' or ration of whiskey, swallowed
their homely supper of meat half burned and bread
half baked, and retiring to sleep they stretched them-
selves upon the deck without covering, under the open
canopy of heaven, or probably enveloped in a blanket,
until the steersman's horn called them to their morn-
ing ' fillee' and their toil.
" Hard and fatiguing was the life of a boatman,
yet it was rare that any of them ever changed his
vocation. There was a charm in the excesses, in the
frolics, and in the fightings which they anticipated
at the end of the voyage which cheered them on. Of
weariness none would complain, but rising from his
bed at the first dawn of day, and reanimated by his
morning draught, he was prepared to hear and obey
the wonted order, 'Stand to your poles and set off!"
The boatmen were masters of the winding horn and the
fiddle, and as the boat moved off from her moorings,
some, to cheer their labors or to ' scare off the devil
and secure good luck,' would wind the animating blast
of the horn, which, mingling with the sweet music of
the fiddle and reverberating along the sounding shores,
greeted the solitary dwellers on the banks with news
from New Orleans."
Levity and volatility were conspicuous traits of
the boatman's character, and while he was willing to
perform excessive and long-continued labor, he would
render such service only to a " patroon" whom he
respected. In fine, the average keel-boatman was
cool, reckless, courageous to the verge of rashness,
1 Professor S. Waterhouse.
2 Ibid.
1 " Their athletic labors gave strength incredible to their
muscles, which they were vain to exhibit, and fist-fighting was
their pastime. He who could boast that he had never been
whipped was bound to fight whoever disputed his manhood.
Keel-boatmen and bargemen looked upon flat-boatmen as their
natural enemies, and a meeting was th«* prelude to a ' battle-
royal.' They were great sticklers for ' fair play,' and whoso-
ever was worsted in battle must bide the issue without assist-
ance."— Monette's History of the Valley of the Mississippi,
p. 20.
4 Ibid., pp. 19 and 20.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1091
and pugnacious, but, notwithstanding certain grave
shortcomings, an unmitigated hater of all the darker
shades of sin and wrong-doing, such as stealing, rob-
bing, and murdering for plunder, crimes that in his
day were frequently and boldly perpetrated along the
sparsely-settled banks and at lonely islands of the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
" The departure of a boat was an important inci-
dent in the uneventful village life of St. Louis. On
such occasions it was customary for their friends to
assemble on the banks to bid adieu to the voyageurs.
Sometimes half the population of the village was
present to tender their wishes for a prosperous trip.
" For years it was believed that no keel-boat, could
ascend the Missouri. The rapidity of the current
was supposed to be an insuperable obstacle to naviga-
tion by such craft. The doubt was settled by the
enterprise of George Sarpy, who sent a keel-boat
under Capt. Labrosse to try the difficult experi-
ment of ascending the Missouri. The success of the
undertaking marked a signal advance in Western
navigation, and supplied the merchants of St. Louis
with new facilities for the transportation of their
goods," 1 while it also greatly extended the operations
of the boatmen and increased their numbers.
Of the keel-boatmen, when classed by nativity, the
Kentuckians bore the most unenviable reputation, on
account of the fact that they were generally charac-
terized by excessive recklessness and bellicoseness,
and we are told so gloomy was the reputation of the
Kentuckians that travelers were liable at every place
(except the miserable wayside taverns) to have the
door shut in their face on applying for refreshments
or a night's lodgings. Nor would any plea or cir-
cumstance alter the decided refusal of the master or
mistress, unless it might be the uncommonly genteel
appearance and the equipage of the traveler.
For a similar reason, possibly, badly-built boats,
with poor or injured plank in their bottoms, which
had been sold to unsuspecting or inexperienced per-
sons, were known as " Kentucky boats/'
" In 1807," says a writer on " Early Navigators"
in a St. Louis newspaper, " a Mr. Winchester's boat
struck a rock in the Ohio, below Pittsburgh a short
distance, and one of her bottom planks being badly
stove in, she sunk immediately, having on board a
valuable cargo of dry-goods. The proprietor, not
being with the boat at the time, conceived, when
informed of the disaster, that it had been caused by
carelessness of the person to whom he had intrusted
the boat and cargo, and brought suit against him for
1 Professor Waterhouse.
damages; and indeed it was somewhat evident, from
all that could be ascertained, that the patroon had no
business in the neighborhood of the rock, and could
and should have avoided it. The defendant's position
was rather gloomy, but his resources proved equal to
the emergency. The suit was before (Dr.) Justice
Richardson, of Pittsburgh, who himself had had some
sad experiences with Kentucky boats. The defendant
knowing or being informed of this, hired two men,
went down to the wreck, and with some difficulty
procured several pieces of the plank that had given
way. On the day of trial, after the plaintiff had, as
every one present thought, fully established his charges
and demands, the justice asked the defendant if he had
any rebutting evidence to offer. ' Yes, your Honor,' he
replied, ' I have ;' and reaching down under his seat,
he drew out the pieces of plank aforementioned and
said, ' I have no evidence to offer, your Honor, ex-
cept these pieces, which I can prove to your Honor
are part of the same plank, the breaking of which
caused the boat to sink, which, I say, would not have
occurred if the plank had been reasonably sound.
Look at them ! Your Honor will see that it was my
misfortune to have been placed in charge of one of
these d — d Kentucky boats.' Without in any way
noticing the blasphemous expression, the justice ex-
amined the pieces, which proved to be thoroughly
rotten and defective, unfit to be put anywhere, much
less in the bottom of a boat. After hearing from the
defendant's helpers that these pieces were taken from
the boat in question, at the identical place where she
had broken, the court delivered its mind as follows :
' This court had the misfortune once to place a valu-
able cargo on a Kentucky boat, not knowing it to be
such, which sunk and went down in seventeen feet of
water, this court verily believed, by coming in contact
with the head of a yellow-bellied catfish, there being
no snag, rock, or other obstruction near her at the
time ; and this court, being satisfied of the premises
in this cause, doth order that the same be dismissed
at plaintiff's costs, to have included therein the ex-
penses of the defendant in going to and returning
from the wreck, for the purpose of obtaining such
damnable and irrefutable evidence as this bottom
plank has furnished.' And the bottom plank was
deemed proof so conclusive, and the prejudice against
Kentucky boats in the public mind was so extended
and settled, that it was thought inadvisable to urge
the suit any further."
Besides the ordinary dangers of the treacherous cur-
rents, " cave-ins," shoals and snags of the Mississippi,
and occasional assaults from prowling savages, the
early boatmen were often called upon to face the more
1092
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
serious peril of an attack by river pirates. " Many a
boatload of costly merchandise intended for the ware-
houses of St. Louis never reached its destination. The
misdeeds of the robbers were not always limited to the
seizure of goods. The proof of rapine was often ex-
tinguished by the murder of the witnesses. The caves
of the pirates were rich with the spoils of a plundered
commerce, and the depredations became more frequent
in proportion to the impunity with which they were
committed. At last the interruption of trade became
so grave and the danger to life so imminent that the
Governor-General of Louisiana was constrained to take
more effective steps for the suppression of the bandits.
An official order excluding single boats from the Mis-
sissippi granted the privilege of navigation only to
flotillas that were strong enough to repel their assail-
ants. The plan succeeded and the pirates were ulti-
mately driven from their haunts. The arrival at St.
Louis in 1788 of the flotilla of ten boats was a memor-
able occasion in the annals of the village." 1
The arrival of this flotilla gave the name of " tan-
n6e des dix bateaux" to the year 1788, which was
the last year of Don Francisco Cruzat's second ad-
ministration. In the year before, M. Beausoliel, a
New Orleans merchant, had been captured by pirates
near the island that still bears his name, and subse-
quently escaping, recaptured his boat and killed the
pirates. He then returned to New Orleans and re-
ported his experience to the Governor, who thereupon
issued the order already, referred to that all boats
bound for St. Louis the following spring should sail
together for mutual protection. This was carried out,
and the flotilla " des dix bateaux" made the voyage,
capturing at Cottonwood Creek the camp and supplies
of the pirates, with a valuable assortment of miscel-
laneous plunder which had been taken from many
boats on previous occasions.
" In an advertisement published in 1794 the patrons
of a special line of boats were assured of their safety.
The statements which were made to allay apprehen-
sions showed that the fear of pirates was not then
groundless. A large crew skillful in the use of arms,
a plentiful supply of muskets and ammunition, an
equipment on each boat of six one-pound cannon and
a loop-holed rifle-proof cabin for the passengers were
the means of defense provided, on which were based
the hopes of security. So formidable an array of
weapons was not well calculated to inspire timid na-
tures with confidence in the safety of the voyage." 2
The boatmen were very active and energetic in
rooting out the nests of pirates, and not infrequently
1 Professor Waterhouse.
* Ibid.
administered lynch-law in summary fashion. One of
the most sanguinary incidents of this character was
that which occurred in 1809.
Island 94 (called Stack Island, or Crows' Nest),
one hundred and seventy miles above Natchez, was
notorious for many years for being a den for the ren-
dezvous of a gang of horse- thieves, counterfeiters,
robbers, and murderers. It was a small island located
in the middle of Nine-Mile Reach. From hence they
would sally forth, stop passing boats, and murder the
crew, or if this appeared impracticable, would buy their
horses, flour, whiskey, etc., and pay for them. Their
villanies became notorious, and several years' pursuit
by the civil law officers failed to produce any results
in the way of punishment or eradication. But they
were at length made to disappear by an application of
lynch-law from several keel-boat crews. The full his-
tory of this affair has never been fully unfolded, and
perhaps never will be, but for terrible retribution and
complete annihilation, outside of any authorized de-
crees, it never had its equal in any administration of
lynch-law, the recitals of which cast so many shadows
on the annals of the West and South. The autumn
and winter immediately preceding the month of April,
1809, had been marked by numerous atrocities on the
part of the bandits of the Crows' Nest. Several
boats and their entire crews had disappeared at that
point, and no traces could be found of them afterward.
The country around and up and down the river had
been victimized and robbed in almost every conceiv-
able form by depredators whose movements could be
satisfactorily traced as tending towards the Crows'
Nest. In that month it occurred that seven keel-
boats were concentrated at the head of Nine-Mile
Reach, within speaking distance of each other, being
detained by heavy contrary winds. The crews of
these were well informed as to the villanies of those
who harbored on the little island a few miles below
them. Many of them had friends and old comrades
who were known to have been on the missing boats.
By what means it was brought about, at whose sug-
gestion or influence was never made known, but one
dark night, a few hours before daylight, eighty or
ninety men from these wind-bound craft, well armed,
descended silently in their small boats to the Crows'
Nest and surprised its occupants, whom they secured
after a short encounter, in which two of the boatmen
were wounded and several of the robbers killed.
Nineteen men, a boy of fifteen, and two women were
thus captured. Shortly after sunrise the boy (on ac-
count of his extreme youth) and the two women were
allowed to depart. What was the manner of punish-
ment meted out to the men, whether shot or hanged,
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1093
was never ascertained with any degree of certainty.
None but the boatmen, the boy, and the two women,
however, ever left the island alive, and by twelve
o'clock noon the crews were back to their boats, and
the wind having calmed the night previous they
shoved out, and by sunset were far down the river
and away from the scene of the indisputably just
though unlawful retribution. Two years afterward
came the terrible earthquake, which, with the floods
of 1811-13, destroyed every vestige of the Crows'
Nest, leaving nothing of it to be seen but a low sand-
bar, and with it passed away from public sight and
mind all signs of its bandits, their crimes, and the
awful doom that befell them.
Some years later a new type of river desperadoes
appeared, who, if tradition and history do not greatly
belie them, were not much more exemplary in their con-
duct than the pirates and buccaneers who preceded
them. " Mike" Fink in particular, the model hero of
the Mississippi boatmen, who has figured on the pages of
popular romance, was a ruffian of surpassing strength
and courage. His rifle was unerring, and his con-
science was as easy and accommodating as a man in
his line of business could wish. His earliest vocation
was that of a boatman, but he had belonged to a com-
pany of government spies or scouts whose duty it was
to watch the movements of the Indians on the fron-
tier. At that time Pittsburgh was on the extreme
verge of the white population, and the spies, who were
constantly employed, generally extended their recon-
noissances forty or fifty miles west of that place.
Going out singly and living in Indian style, they as-
similated themselves to the habits, tastes, and feelings
of the Indians. In their border warfare the scalp of
a Shawnee was esteemed about as valuable as the skin
of a panther. " Mike" Fink, tiring of this after a
while, returned to the water life, and engrafting sev-
eral other occupations on that of the boatman, put all
mankind, except his friends and employer, to whom
he was honest and faithful, under contribution, and
became nothing more nor less than a freebooter.
" Mike," haying murdered " Joe" Stevens, was killed
by one of Joe's brothers. James Girty, another of the
famous Mississippi boatmen, was represented as a
" natural prodigy," not " constructed like ordinary
men, for, instead of ribs, bountiful nature had pro-
vided him with a solid bony casing on both sides,
without any interstices through which a knife, dirk,
or bullet could penetrate." He possessed amazing
muscular power, and courage in proportion, and his
great boast was that he had " never been whipped." l
Lloyd's Steamboat Directory, p. 38.
The trade conducted by these boats was of consid-
erable proportions. As early as 1802 the annual ex-
ports of the Mississippi valley amounted to $2,160,000,
and the imports to $2,500,000. Up to 1804 the
annual value of the fur trade of Upper Louisiana
amounted to $203,750. The province then exported
lead, salt, beef, and pork, and received Indian goods
from Canada, domestics from Philadelphia and Bal-
timore, groceries from New Orleans, and hardware
from the Ohio River.
Short notices in the newspapers of that day, an-
nouncing, " Wanted to freight, from this place to
Louisville, about sixteen hundredweight, apply at
the printing-office," 2 or (; thirteen boatmen are wanted
to navigate a few boats to New Orleans, to start about
the 15th of next month ; the customary wages will be
given,"3 or that " the barge ' Scott' will start from St.
Louis on the 1st of March, and will take freight for
Louisville or Frankfort, in Kentucky, on reasonable
terms, apply to John Steele,"4are too laconic to more
than indicate the existence of a commerce, without
affording any reliable data of its dimensions or the
appliances by which it was carried on.5
8 Minsouri Gazette, July 5, 1809.
» Ibid., Aug. 30, 1809.
« Ibid., Dec. 22, 1809.
5 " FREIGHT FROM NEW ORLEANS TO KASKASKIA IN 1741. —
We doubt whether so unique or so old a bill of lading can be
found in the valley of the Mississippi as that which follows.
It is a translation from a bill of sale executed the 18th of May,
1741, by Barois, notary in Kaskaskia. What would our steam-
boatmen say now at receiving such a price for an old salt-kettle,
when they are in the practice of transporting one thousand to
twelve hundred tons of goods between the ports of New Orleans
and St. Louis, and are in a very bad humor if by chance they
fail to make the trip in six days ? ' And has been further agreed
that said Mettager promises to deliver to said Bienvena, at the
landing-place of this town of Kaskaskia, at his own risks, the
fortunes of war excepted, an iron kettle, weighing about two
hundred and ninety pounds, used for the manufacture of salt,
and which said Bienvena owns in New Orleans, and said Bien-
vena promises to pay to said Mettager, for his salary and
freight, after the delivery of said kettle, a steer in good order,
three bushels of salt, two hundred pounds of bacon, and twenty
bushels of Indian corn, under the penalty of all costs, etc.' " —
Republican, Nov. 30, 1850.
PETER PROVENCHERE'S BILL OP LADING.
Shipped by Peter Provenchere, of the town of St. Louis,
merchant, on board the boat " J. Maddison," whereof Charles
Quirey is master, now lying at the landing before the town of
St. Louis and ready immediately to depart for Louisville, Ky.
F. T. Six packs of deer-skins, marked and numbered as per
margin, and a barrel of bear-oil, containing about thirty -
96 two gallons, all in good order and well conditioned, which
I promise to deliver in like good order and condition
99 (unavoidable accident excepted) unto Mr. Francis Tar-
ascon, merchant, Louisville, or to his assigns.
109 And, moreover, I acknowledge to have of the said
Peter Provenchere a note of Peter Menard on Louis
1094
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
At the period of the introduction of steam upon
the Mississippi, 1817, the whole commerce from New
Orleans to the upper country was transported in about
twenty barges of an average of one hundred tons each,
and making but one trip in a year. The number of
keel-boats on the Ohio was estimated at one hundred
and sixty, carrying thirty tons each. The whole
tonnage was estimated at between six thousand and
seven thousand.
The advent of steam, of course, superseded the use
of the keel-boat, and the picturesque features of the
earlier navigation passed away. In the presence of
the mighty energy which has revolutionized the com-
merce of the world, the warp and cordelle, the pole
and running-board forever disappeared from the bosom
of the Mississippi.
" The commerce of St. Louis had humble begin-
nings. The facilities for transportation were limited
to the rudest row-boats, but in course of time there
has grown from the birch canoe a vast inland fleet,
which in 1880 bore to the port of St. Louis about
two million tons of merchandise." 1
Steamboating. — In " The First Steamboat Voyage
on the Western Waters," John H. B. Latrobe says,
" Whether steam could be employed on the West-
ern rivers was a question that its success between New
York and Albany was not regarded as having entirely
solved, and after the idea had been suggested of
building a boat at Pittsburgh, to ply between Natchez
and New Orleans, it was considered necessary that
investigations should be made as to the currents of
the rivers to be navigated in regard to the new sys-
tem." These investigations were undertaken by Nich-
olas J. Roosevelt, who repairing in May, 1809, to
Pittsburgh, there constructed a flat-boat in which he
proceeded to New Orleans for the purpose of studying
and investigating the new conditions of navigation to
which the steam system was about to be subjected.
These investigations proved entirely satisfactory, not
!
111 Lorimier, inhabitant of Cape Girardeau, for one thou-
sand pounds of reeeiptable deer-skins, the said note
112 transferred to my order, and I bind and engage myself
to ask of the said Louis Lorimier the payment of the j
113 said note, and if I reclaim it to deliver to the said Fran- |
cis Tarascon or assign the thousand pounds of deer- j
skins, together with the six packs and the barrel now
received, and in case of no payment to return the note
to Mr. Tarascon, he or they paying freight.
In witness whereof I have set my hand to three bills of lading,
all of the same tenor and date, one being accomplished, the others
null and void.
CHARLES QUIREY.
Test, WILLIAM C. CARR.
St. Louis, the 8th, A.D. 1809.
1 Professor Waterhouse.
only to Mr. Roosevelt but also to Messrs. Fulton and
Livingston, who were to furnish the capital, and Mr.
Roosevelt in 1811 took up his residence in Pittsburgh,
to superintend the construction of the boat and engine
that were to open the Western waters to the new sys-
tem of steam navigation.
The " New Orleans" was the first steamboat con-
structed on Western waters. She was one hundred
and sixteen feet in length, with twenty feet beam, and
her engine had a thirty-four-inch cylinder, with boiler
and other parts in proportion. She was about four
hundred tons burden, and cost in the neighborhood
of thirty-eight thousand dollars. There were two
cabins, one aft for ladies, and a larger one forward for
gentlemen. The ladies' cabin, which was comfortably
furnished, contained four berths. The " New Orleans"
was launched in March, 1811 ; left Pittsburgh in
October of the same year; passed Cincinnati October
27th, and reached Louisville the next day, in sixty-
four hours' running time from Pittsburgh. The water
was too low for her to cross the falls, and while at
Louisville waiting for sufficient water she made several
short excursions. She also made one trip to Cincin-
nati, arriving there in forty-five hours' running time
from Louisville, Nov. 27, 1811. While here she
made an excursion trip to Columbia, charging one dol-
lar per head. Shortly afterward, the river rising, she
left this place for New Orleans, December, 1811.
Her voyage down the river was perilous in the ex-
treme, as shortly after leaving Louisville the great
earthquakes began. She ran between Natchez and
New Orleans, her trips averaging about three weeks.
July 13, 1814, she landed on her upward voyage two
miles above Baton Rouge, on the opposite side, and
spent the night taking in wood, the night being thought
too dark to run with safety. At daylight the next
morning she got up steam, and on starting the engine
it was found she would not move ahead, but kept
swinging around. The water had fallen during the
night, and the captain found she was resting on
a stump. An anchor was put out on her starboard
quarter, and by the aid of her capstan she was soon
hove off; but on clearing her it was discovered she
had sprunk a leak and was sinking rapidly. She was
immediately run into the bank and tied fast, but sunk
so rapidly her passengers had barely time to get off
with their baggage.*
4 The "Navigator," an old and rare book printed at Pittsburgh,
Pa., in the early part of this century, records many interest-
ing facts concerning the '• early navigators." From this source
we learn something of the expenses and profits of the " New
Orleans" when a packet between Natchez and New Orleans.
This old chronicle says, " Her accommodations are good and
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1095
The history of the early steamboats following the
" New Orleans" will be found interesting, as showing
her passengers generally numerous, seldom less from Natchez
than from ten to twenty, at eighteen dollars per head, and when
she starts from New Orleans generally from thirty to fifty, and
sometimes as many as eight}7 passengers, at twenty-five dollars
each to Natchez. According to the observations of Capt.
Morris, of New Orleans, who attended her as pilot several trips,
the boat's receipts for freight, upwards, have averaged the last
year seven hundred dollars, passenger money nine hundred
dollars; downward, three hundred dollars for freight, five hun-
dred for passengers. She performs thirteen trips in the year,
which, at two thousand four hundred dollars per trip, amount
to thirty-one thousand two hundred dollars. Her expenses
are, twelve hands at twenty dollars per month, four thou-
sand three hundred and twenty dollars ; captain, one thousand
dollars ; seventy cords of wood each trip, at one dollar and
seventy-five cents, which amounts to one thousand five hundred
and eighty-six dollars; in all six thousand nine hundred
and six dollars. It is presumed that the boat's extra trips
for pleasure or otherwise, out of her usual route trade, have paid
for all the expenses of repairs, and with the profits of the bar-
room, for the boat's provisions, in which case there will remain
a net gain of twenty-four thousand two hundred and ninety-
four dollars for the first year The owners estimate the boat's
value at forty thousand dollars, which gives an interest of two
thousand four hundred dollars ; and by giving one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-four dollars more for furniture, etc.,
we have the clear gain of twenty thousand dollars for the first
year's labor of the steamboat ' New Orleans.'
" The steamboat goes up in about seven or eight days, and de- j
scends in two or three, stopping several times for freight, passen-
gers, etc. She stays at the extremes of her journey, Natchez
and New Orleans, about four or five days to discharge and take
in loading."
The first sea-vessel on the Western waters was a brig called
the "St. Clair," one hundred and twenty tons burden, built at
Marietta, Ohio, by Commodore Preble, in 1798 or '99, who went
down the rivers in her to New Orleans, from thence to Havana
and Philadelphia, and at the latter port he sold her. From
1799 to 1805 there were built at Pittsburgh four ships, three
brigs, and several schooners, but misfortunes and accidents
happening to most of them in going down the rivers to the gulf,
ship-building at Pittsburgh and the upper Ohio went into a
decline, until revived some years after in the shape of steam-
boat architecture. One of these ships took out her clearance
papers at Pittsburgh for Leghorn, Italy, and in illustrating
the commercial habits and enterprise of the American people,
Henry Clay, in a speech in Congress, related the following
anecdote about her : When the vessel arrived at Leghorn, the
captain presented his papers to the custom officer there,
but he would not credit them, and said to the master, " Sir,
your papers are forged, there is no such place as Pittsburgh in
the world, your vessel must be confiscated." The trembling
captain asked if he had a map of the United States, which he
fortunately had, and produced, and the captain, taking the
officer's finger, put it down at the mouth of the Mississippi,
then led it a thousand miles up that river, and thence another
thousand up to Pittsburgh, and said, " There, sir, is the port
whence my vessel cleared from." The astonished officer, who,
before he saw the map, would as soon have believed the vessel
had been navigated from the moon, exclaimed, " I knew that
America could show many wonderful things, but a fresh-water
seaport is something I never dreamed of."
how quickly the innovation made itself felt, and how
speedily the new system obliterated the old.
The second boat was the " Comet," of twenty-five
tons, owned by Samuel Smith, built at Pittsburgh by
Daniel French ; stern-wheel and vibrating cylinder,
French's patent granted in 1809. The " Comet"
made a voyage to Louisville in 1813, and to New
Orleans in the spring of 1814 ; made two trips to
Natchez, and was sold, the engine being put up on a
plantation to drive a cotton-gin. Third boat, the
" Vesuvius," three hundred and forty tons, built at
Pittsburgh by Robert Fulton, and owned by a com-
pany belonging to New York and New Orleans ; left
Pittsburgh for New Orleans in the spring of 1814,
commanded by Capt. Frank Ogden. She started
from New Orleans, bound for Louisville, the 1st of
June, 1814, and grounded on a bar seven hundred miles
up the Mississippi, where she lay until the 3d of De-
cember, when the river rose and she floated off. She
returned to New Orleans, where she ran aground the
second time on the batture, where she lay until the
1st of March, when the river rose and floated her off.
She was then employed some months between New
Orleans and Natchez, under the command of Capt.
Clemment, who was succeeded by Capt. John De-
Hart. Shortly after she took fire near New Orleans
and burned to the water's edge, having a valuable
cargo aboard. The fire was supposed to have been
communicated from the boiler, which was in the hold.
The bottom was raised and built upon at New Or-
leans, and she went into the Louisville trade, but was
soon after sold to a company at Natchez. On ex-
amination subsequent to the sale she was pronounced
unfit for use, was libeled by her commander, and sold
at public auction. Fourth boat, the " Enterprise,"
forty-five tons, built at Brownsville, Pa., -by Daniel
French, under his patent, and owned by a company at
that place, made two trips to Louisville in the summer
of 1814, under the command of Capt. J. Gregg.
On the 1st of December she took in a cargo of ord-
nance stores at Pittsburgh, and left for New Orleans,
commanded by Capt. Henry M. Shreve, and ar-
rived at New Orleans on the 14th of the same month.
She was then dispatched up the river in search of two
keel-boats laden with small-arms which had been
delayed on the river. She got twelve miles above
Natchez, where she met the keels, took their masters
and cargoes on board, and returned to New Orleans,
having been but six and a half days absent, in which
time she ran six hundred and twenty-four miles.
She was then for some time actively employed in
transporting troops. She made one trip to the Gulf
of Mexico as a cartel, and one trip to the rapids of the
1096
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Red River with troops, and nine voyages to Natchez.
She left New Orleans for Pittsburgh on the 6th of
May, and arrived at Shippingport on the 30th, twenty-
five days out, being the first boat that ever arrived at
that port from New Orleans. She then proceeded on
to Pittsburgh, and the command was given to D.
Worley, who lost her in Rock Harbor, at Shipping-
port. Fifth boat, the " ^tna," three hundred and
forty tons, built at Pittsburgh, and owned by the same
company as the " Vesuvius," left Pittsburgh for New
Orleans in March, 1815, under the command of Capt.
A. Gale, and arrived at that port in April follow-
ing ; was placed in the Natchez trade ; was then
placed under the command of Capt. Robinson De
Hart, who made six trips on her to Louisville.
The sixth boat was the " Zebulon M. Pike,"1 built
by Mr. Prentiss at Henderson, Ky., on the Ohio
River, in 1815. The " Pike" deserves special men-
tion, as she was the first steamboat to ascend the
Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio, and the first
to touch at St. Louis. Her first trip was made in the
spring of 1815 to Louisville, Ky., two hundred and
fifty miles in sixty-seven hours, making three and
three-quarter miles per hour against the current. On
her voyage to St. Louis she was commanded by Capt.
1 Named after Zebulon Montgomery Pike, formerly a briga-
dier-general in the United States army, who was born at Lamber-
ton, N. J., Jan. 5, 1779, and killed at York, near Toronto, Upper
Canada, on the 27th of April, 1813. Zebulon, his father, was
born in New Jersey in 1751, and died at Lawrenceburg, Ind.,
July 27, 1834. He was a captain in the Revolutionary army,
was present at St. Clair's defeat in 1791, and was brevet lieu-
tenant-colonel in the United States army July 10, 1812. His
son was appointed a cadet in the regiment of his father March
3, 1799, and was made first lieutenant in November and captain
in August, 1806. Skilled in mathematics and in the languages,
he was appointed after the purchase of Louisiana to conduct an.
expedition to trace the Mississippi to its source. Leaving St.
Louis, Aug. 9, 1805, he performed this service satisfactorily, re-
turning after eight months and twenty days of exploration and
exposure to constant hardship. In 1806-7 he was engaged in
geographical explorations of Louisiana, during which, being
found on Spanish territory, he with his party was taken to
Santa Fe, and after a long examination and the seizure of his
papers was escorted home, arriving at Natchitoches July 1,
1807. In 1810 he published a narrative of his expeditions,
with valuable maps and charts. Receiving the thanks of the
government, he was made major of the Sixth Infantry, May 3,
1808; lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Infantry, Dec. 31, 1809;
deputy quartermaster-general, April 3, 1812; colonel Fifteenth
Infantry, July 3,1812; and brigadier-general, March 12, 1813.
Early in 1813 he was assigned to the principal army as adjutant-
and inspector-general, and was selected to command an expedi-
tion against York, the capital of Upper Canada. Landing under
a heavy fire, he charged the enemy in person, and put them to
flight, carried one battery by assault, and was moving to the
attack of the main works, when the explosion of the British
magazine mortally wounded him, speedily causing his death on
April 27, 1813.
Jacob Read. " The hull," says Professor Water-
house, " was built on the model of a barge. The
cabin was situated on the lower deck, inside of the
' running-boards.'
" The boat was driven by a low-pressure engine, with
a walking-beam. The wheels had no wheel-houses.
The boat had but one smoke-stack. In the encounter
with a rapid current the crew reinforced steam with
the impulse of their own strength. They used the
poles and running-boards just as in the push-boat
navigation of barges. The boat ran only by day, and
was six weeks in making this first trip from Louis-
ville to St. Louis. It landed at the foot of Market
Street Aug. 2, 1817. The inhabitants of the village
gathered on the bank to welcome the novel visitor.
Among them was a group of Indians. As the boat
approached, the glare of its furnace fires and the
volumes of murky smoke filled the Indians with dis-
may. They fled to the high ground in the rear of
the village, and no assurances of safety could induce
them to go one step nearer to the object of their
fears. They ascribed supernatural powers to a boat
that could ascend a rapid stream without the aid of
sail or oar. Their superstitious imaginations beheld
a monster breathing flame and threatening the ex-
tinction of the red man. In a symbolic sense, their
fancy was prophetic : the progress of civilization, of
which the steamboat may be taken as a type, is fast
sweeping the Indian race into the grave of buried
nations."
The first notice we have of the expected arrival of
the " Pike" at St. Louis is the following announce-
ment in the Missouri Gazette of the 14-th of July,
1817:
" A steamboat is expected here from Louisville to-morrow.
There is no doubt but what we shall have a regular communi-
cation with Louisville, or at least the mouth of the Ohio, by a
steam packet."
On the 2d of August the Gazette published this
notice :
"The steamboat 'Pike' will be ready to take in freight to-
morrow for Louisville or any of the towns on the Ohio. She
will sail for Louisville on Monday morning, the 4th August,
from ten to twelve o'clock. For freight or passage apply to the
master on board.
" JACOB READ, Master."
The return trip of the " Pike" is also mentioned in
the Gazette of September 2d as follows :
" The steamboat ' Pike' will arrive in a day or two from Louis-
ville. This vessel will ply regularly between that place and this,
and will take in her return cargo shortly after her arrival. Per-
sons who may have freight, or want passage for Louisville or any
of the towns on the Ohio, will do well to make early application
to the master on board. On her passage from this to Louisville
she will make a stop at Herculaneum, where Mr. M. 'Austin will
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1097
act as agent; also at Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau. At
the former place Mr. Le Meilleur and at the latter Mr. Stein-
beck will act as agents, with whom freight for the ' Pike' may
be deposited and shipped.
" Persons wanting passage in this vessel will apply as above.
She will p'erform her present voyage to and from Louisville in
about four weeks, and will always afford an expeditious and safe
passage for the transportation of freight or passengers.
" JACOB READ, Master."
Again on the 22d of November the Gazette an-
nounced that " the steamboat ' Pike' with passengers
and freight arrived here yesterday from Louisville."
The " Pike" had a capacity of thirty-seven tons, old
government tonnage. She made a trip to New Or-
leans, and several between Louisville and Pittsburgh,
after which she was engaged in the Red 'River trade.
She was snagged in March, 1818.1
The next vessel after the " Pike" to arrive at St.
Louis was the " Constitution," Capt. R. T. Guyard,
which arrived Oct. 2, 1817. The steamboat ceased
in 1818 to be a novelty on the Mississippi, and be-
1 The seventh boat on the Mississippi was the " Dispatch,"
twenty-five tons, built at Brownsville, Pa., by the same com-
pany that owned the " Enterprise," and under French's patent.
She made several trips from Pittsburgh to Louisville, and one
to New Orleans and back to Shippingport, where she was wrecked
and her engine taken out. She was commanded by Capt. J.
Gregg.
The eighth boat was the " Buffalo," three hundred tons, built
at Pittsburgh by Benjamin H. Latrobe, Sr., the distinguished
architect of the capitol at Washington. She was afterwards sold
at sheriff's sale in Louisville for eight hundred dollars.
We find in the American Weekly Messenger, published in
Philadelphia, July 2, 1814, the following letter, which relates
the circumstances of the launch of the steamboat " Buffalo" :
« PITTSBURGH, June 3, 1814.
" We omitted to mention that the steamboat ' Buffalo' was
safely launched on the1 13th ult. from the yard of Mr. Latrobe.
This boat, which was intended to complete the line of steam-
boats from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, is a fine and uncom-
monly well built vessel of two hundred and eighty-five tons
burden, carpenters' measurement, and is intended to trade reg-
ularly between Louisville and Pittsburgh once a month as long
as the water will admit. She has two cabins and four state-
rooms for private families, and will conveniently accommodate
one hundred persons with beds. Should it be found that her
draught of water, which will be about two feet six inches when
her machinery 'is on board, is too great for the summer months,
it is intended immediately to put on the stocks another boat or
boats of smaller draught and less bulky construction. It is
expected that the 'Buffalo' will be finished in time to bring up
the cargo of the steamboat ' Vesuvius' from New Orleans."
A succeeding number of the same paper, the Weekly American
Messeiifjer, contains the following items from St. Louis :
"ST. Louis (I. T.), July 2, 1814.
'' On Sunday last an armed boat arrived here from Prairie du
Chien, under the command of Capt. John Sullivan, with his
company of militia and thirty-two men from the gunboat ' Gov-
ernor Clark,' their terms of service (sixty days) having expired.
Capt. Yeizer, who commands on board the ' Governor Clark,' off
Prairie du Chien, reports that his vessel is completely manned,
that the fort is finished, christened Fort Shelby, and occupied
by the regulars, and that all are anxious for a visit from Dick-
son and his red troops. The Indians are hovering around the
village, stealing horses, and have been successful in obtaining a
prisoner, a Frenchman, who had gone out to look for his horses."
Ninth boat, the "James Monroe," one hundred and twenty
tons, built at Pittsburgh, by Mr. Latrobe, owned by a company
at Bayou Sara, and run in the Natchez trade.
Tenth boat, the " Washington," four hundred tons, a two-
decker, built at Wheeling, Va., constructed and partly owned
by Capt. Henry M. Shreve.* The engine of the "Washing-
ton" was built at Brownsville, Pa., under the immediate direc-
tion of Capt. Shreve; her boilers were on the upper deck, being
the first boat on that plan, a valuable improvement by Capt.
Shreve, which is now generally in use. The "Washington"
crossed the falls in September, 1816, under the command of
Capt. Shreve, bound for New Orleans, and returned to Louis-
ville during the following winter. In the month of March,
1817, she left Shippingport a second time, and proceeded to
New Orleans, and returned to Shippingport, being absent only
forty-five days. This was the trip that convinced the despair-
ing public that steamboat navigation would succeed on the
Western waters.
Eleventh boat, the " Franklin," one hundred and twenty-
five tons, built at Pittsburgh, by Messrs. Shiras <t Cromwell,
engine built by George Evans, left Pittsburgh in December,
1816, was sold at New Orleans, and was subsequently employed
in the Louisville and St. Louis trade. She was sunk in the
Mississippi, near Ste. Genevieve, in 1819, on her way to St.
Louis, commanded by Capt. Revels.
Twelfth boat, the "Oliver Evans" (afterwards the "Con-
stitution"), seventy tons, built at Pittsburgh, by George Evans,
engines his patent. She left Pittsburgh in December, 1816, for
New Orleans; she burst one of her boilers in April, 1817, off
Point Coupee, by which eleven men lost their lives, principally
passengers. Owned by George Sulton and others of Pitts-
burgh.
Thirteenth boat, the " Harriet," forty tons, built at Pitts-
burgh, constructed and owned by Mr. Armstrong, of Williams-
port, Pa. She left Pittsburgh, October, 1816, for New Orleans,
crossed the falls in March, 1817, made one trip to New Orleans,
and subsequently ran between that place and Muscle Shoals, on
the Tennessee River.
Fourteenth boat, the " Kentucky," eighty tons, built at
Frankfort, Ky., in 1817, and owned by Hanson & Beswell, en-
gaged in the Louisville trade.
* The St. Louis Republican of March 7, 1851, thus Dotes the death of
this eminent steamboat-man: "This worthy citizen died at the resi-
dence of his son-in-law in this city yesterday. He was for nearly forty
years closely identified with the commerce of the West, either in flat-
boats or steam navigation. During the administrations of Adams,
Jackson, and Van Bureu he filled the post of United States superin-
tendent of Western river improvements, and by the steam snag-boat,
of which he was the inventor, contributed largely to the safety of West-
ern commerce. To him belongs the honor of demonstrating the prac-
ticability of navigating the Mississippi Kiver with steamboats. He
commanded the first steamer that ever ascended that river, and made
several and valuable improvements, both of the steam-engine and of the
hull and cabins of the Western steamboats. While the British were
threatening New Orleans in 1814-15, he was employed by Gen. Jack-
son in several hazardous enterprises, and during the battle of the 8th of
January served one of the field-pieces which destroyed the advancing
column led by Gen. Keane. His name lias become historically associated
with Western river navigation, and will long be cherished by his numer-
ous friends throughout this valley."
1098
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
came a recognized agent of the commerce of the
valley.
The arrivals and departures of vessels about this
time were occasionally noticed by the Gazette as fol-
lows :
Fifteenth boat, the "Governor Shelby," ninety tons, built
at Louisville, engine by Bolton & Ebolt, of England. In 1819
she was running very successfully in the Louisville trade.
Sixteenth boat, the ''New Orleans," three hundred tons,
built at Pittsburgh by Messrs. Fulton & Livingston in 1817, for
the Natchez trade, sunk near Baton Rouge, but was raised, and
sunk again near New Orleans in February, 1819, about two
months after her first sinking.
Seventeenth boat, the " Vesta," one hundred tons, built at
Cincinnati in 1817, and owned by Messrs. Bosson, Cowdin <t
Co. She plied regularly as a packet between Cincinnati and
Louisville.
Eighteenth boat, the "George Madison," two hundred tons,
built at Pittsburgh in 1818, by Messrs. Voorhees, Mitchell,
Rodgers & Todd, of Frankfort, Ky., was engaged in the Louis-
ville trade in 1819.
Nineteenth boat, the "Ohio," four hundred and forty-three
tons, built at New Albany, Ind., in 1818, by Messrs. Shreve &
Blair, in the Louisville trade.
Twentieth boat, the " Napoleon," three hundred and thirty-
two tons, built at Shippingport in 1818, by Messrs. Shreve,
Miller & Breckinridge, of Louisville, engaged in the Louisville
trade.
Twenty-first boat, the "Volcano," two hundred and fifty
tons, built at New Albany, Ind., by Messrs. John & Robinson
De Hart in 1818. She was purchased in 1819 by a company at
Natchez, and ran between that port and New Orleans.
Twenty-second boat, the "General Jackson," one hundred
and fifty tons, built at Pittsburgh in 1818, and owned by R.
Whiting, of Pittsburgh, and Gen. Carroll, of Tennessee, in the
Nashville trade.
Twenty-third boat, the " Eagle," seventy tons, built at Cin-
cinnati in 1818, owned by James Berthoud & Son, of Ship-
pingport, Ky., in the Natchez trade.
Twenty-fourth boat, the " Hecla," seventy tons, built at
Cincinnati in 1818, and owned by Messrs. Honoris & Barbaror,
of Louisville, in the Louisville trade.
Twenty-fifth boat, the " Henderson," eighty-five tons, built
at Cincinnati in 1818, and owned by Messrs. Bowers, of Hen-
derson, Ky., in the Henderson and Louisville trade.
Twenty-sixth boat, the "Johnson," eighty tons, built at
AVheeling, Vn., in 1818, and in 1819 engaged in the Yellow-
stone expedition.
Twenty-seventh boat, the " Cincinnati," one hundred and
twenty tons, built at Cincinnati in 1818, and owned by Messrs.
Paxon & Co., of New Albany, Ind., in the Louisville trade.
Twenty-eighth boat, the " Exchange," two hundred tons,
built in Louisville, Ky., in 1818, and owned by David L. Ward,
of Jefferson County, Ky., in the Louisville trade.
Twenty-ninth boat, the " Louisiana," forty-five tons, built
at New Orleans in 1818, and owned by Mr. Duplisa, of New
Orleans, in the Natchez trade.
Thirtieth boat, the "James Ross,'' three hundred and thirty
tons, built at Pittsburgh in 1818, and owned by Messrs. Whit-
ing <fe Stackpole, of Pittsburgh, in the Louisville trade.
Thirty-first boat, the " Frankfort," three hundred and twenty
tons, built at Pittsburgh in 1818, and owned by Messrs. Voor-
hees &, Mitchell, of Frankfort, Ky., in the Louisville trade.
Thirty-second boat, the "Tamerlane," three hundred and
"On Saturday last the steamboat 'Franklin,' of about one
hundred and forty tons burden, arrived here in thirty-two days
from New Orleans with passengers and an assorted cargo. The
' Franklin" is admirably calculated for a regular packet-boat to
ply between St. Louis and New Orleans. Her stowage is capa-
twenty tons, built at Pittsburgh in 1818, and owned by Messrs.
Bogart it Co., of New York, in the Louisville trade.
Thirty-third boat, the " Perseverance," forty tons, built at
Cincinnati in 1818, and owned at that place.
Thirty-fourth boat, the "St. Louis," two hundred and
twenty tons, built at Shippingport, Ky., in 1818, and owned by
Messrs. Hewes, Douglass, Johnson, and others, in the St. Louis
trade.
Thirty-fifth boat, the " General Pike," built at Cincinnati in
1818, intended to ply between Louisville, Cincinnati, and Mays-
ville as a passenger packet, and owned by a company at Cin-
cinnati. She was the first steamboat built on the Western waters
for the exclusive convenience of passengers. Her accommo-
dations were ample, her apartments spacious and convenient.
She measured one hundred feet keel, twenty-five feet beam,
and drew only three feet three inches water. The length of
her cabin was forty feet, and the breadth twenty-five feet. At
one end were six state-rooms, and at the other end eight. Be-
tween the two sets of state-rooms was a saloon forty by eighteen
feet, sufficiently large for the accommodation of one hundred
passengers. The " Pike" was built as an opposition boat to
the " Vesta," built in 1817. The rivalry of these boats gave
rise to a slang phrase which held its place with the boys at that
period, and outlived the career of both boats. There are old
citizens of Cincinnati now living who, if they will carry their
memories back to the '20's, will remember the boys in the
streets and through the commons yelling, " Go ahead, ' Vesta,'
the ' Pike' is coming !"
Thirty-sixth boat, the "Alabama," twenty-five tons, built on
Lake Ponchartrain, La., in 1818, in the Red River trade.
Thirty-seventh boat, the "Calhoun," eighty tons, built in 1818
at Frankfort, Ky., and afterwards employed in the Yellowstone
expedition. •
Thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth boats, the " Expedition," one
hundred and twenty tons, and " Independence," fifty tons, built
near Pittsburgh, Pa., both of which were destined for the Yel-
lowstone expedition, the " Independence" being the first boat
that undertook to stem the powerful current of the Missouri.
They both arrived at Franklin (Boon's Lick), Howard Co.,
two hundred miles up the Missouri River from its mouth, in
the month of June, 1819.
Fortieth boat, the "Maid of Orleans," one hundred tons,
built at Philadelphia in 1818, and owned by a company in New
Orleans, and afterwards (in 1819) engaged in the St. Louis
trade. She was constructed both for river and sea navigation,
— the latter by sails, the former by steam-power. She arrived
at New Orleans, schooner-rigged, ascended the Mississippi by
steam, and was the first vessel which ever reached St. Louis
from an Atlantic port.
Forty-first bflat, the " Ramapo," sixty tons, built in New
York in 1818, and in 1819 employed in the Natchez trade.
Forty-second boat, the "Mobile." one hundred and fifty tons,
built at Providence, R. I., in 1818, owned at Mobile, and in
1819 employed in the Louisville traile.
Forty-third boat, the " Mississippi," four hundred tons, built
in New Orleans in 1818, arrived at Havana in February, 1819.
She was intended to ply between Havana and Matanzas.
Forty-fourth boat, the steamboat "Western Engineer," built
on the Monongahela in 1818-19, descended the Ohio River from
Pittsburgh about the 1st of May, 1819, and afterwards ascended
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1099
cious, and her cabin commodious and elegant." — Gazette, June
12, 1818.
" The steamboat ' Franklin' left this place yesterday with
freight and passengers for New Orleans. The master expects
to arrive there in eight days. Our common barges take from
twenty-five to thirty days to perform the voyage." — Gazette,
June 19, 1818.
" List of Steamboats Trading to Ne<n Orleans. — ' Franklin,'
one hundred and thirty-one tons; 'Eagle;' 'Pike' (sunk);
' James Monroe' (sunk, now repairing)." — Gazette, Sept. 5, 1818.
"The new steamboat 'Johnson,' built by Col. Johnson, of
Kentucky, passed Shawneetown the first of this month bound
to New Orleans. She is intended as a regular trader from Ken-
tucky on the Mississippi and the Missouri as far up as the Yel-
lowstone River."— Gazette, Nov. 6, 1818.
the Missouri River in connection with the government ex- i
ploring expedition. The object of the expedition was princi- i
pally to make a correct military survey of the river and to fix |
upon a site for a military establishment at or near the junction
of the Yellowstone with the Missouri, to ascertain the point
where the Rocky Mountains are intersected by the forty-ninth
degree of latitude, which formed the western boundary between
the possessions of Great Britain and the United States, and to
inquire into the " trading capacity and genius of the various
tribes through which they may pass." The officers employed
on this duty were Mnj. S. H. Long, of the United States Engi-
neers, Maj. Thomas Biddle, United States Corps of Artillery, and
Messrs. Graham and Swift. The boat was completely equipped
for defense and was manned by a few troops. The "Western En- i
gineer" drew only two feet six inches of water. She was well ;
built, was bottomed with iron or copper, and had a serpent's
head on her bow through which the steam passed, presenting a
novel appearance.
The launch of the " Western Engineer" at Pittsburgh, March i
26th, was noticed in the Gazette of May 26, 1819, as follows:
"As the launching of the United States steamboat at Pitts- !
burgh has been announced, and as it may not be generally ,
known what are the objects in view, I send you some extracts of
a letter from a young officer going upon the expedition. She
is called the ' Western Engineer/ and will start from Pittsburgh i
about the first of May. It is intended that she shall navigate
the Western waters as far as the Yellowstone Iliver, which will
require upwards of two years. It is not expected that they
will do more than explore the waters of the Missouri the first
season, as the movements will be gradual, in order to obtain a
thorough knowledge of that section of the country, with a his-
tory of the inhabitants, soil, minerals, and curiosities. The
expedition is under the direction of Maj. Stephen II. Long, of
New Hampshire, of the topographical engineers, attended by
Mr. James Graham, of Virginia, Mr. William H. Swift, from the
United States Military Academy, Maj. Thomas Biddle, of Phila-
delphia, of the artillery, and the following gentlemen: Dr.
Jessup, of Philadelphia, mineralogist; Dr. Say, of Philadelphia,
botanist and geologist; Dr. Baldwin, of Wilmington, Del., zool-
ogist and physician ; Dr. Peale, of Philadelphia, landscape
painter and ornithologist ; Mr. Seymour, of Philadelphia, land-
scape painter and ornithologist; Maj. O'Fallon, Indian agent.
"She is well armed, and carries an elegant flag, painted by
Mr. Peale, representing a white man and an Indian shaking
hands, the calumet of peace, and a sword. The boat is seventy-
five feet long, thirteen feet beam, draws nineteen inches water
with her engine, which, together with all the machinery, is
placed below deck entirely out of sight. The steam passes off
through the mouth of the figure-head (a large serpent). The
wheels are placed in the stern, to avoid the snags and sawyers
which are so common in these waters. She has a mast to ship
or not as may be necessary. The expedition will depart with
the best wishes of the scientific part of our country."
Forty-fifth boat, the " Rifleman," two hundred and fifty tons,
built in Louisville in 1819, and owned by Messrs. Butler & Ea-
rners, in the Louisville trade.
Forty-sixth boat, the " Car of Commerce," one hundred and
fifty tons, built at Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1819, owned by William F.
Patterson & Co., of Louisville, and engaged in the trade of that
place.
Forty-seventh boat, the " Paragon," three hundred and
seventy-six tons, built in 1819 at Cincinnati by William Par-
sons, and owned by William Noble and Robert Neilson, in the
Louisville trade.
Forty-eighth boat, the " Maysville," one hundred and fifty
tons, built in 1819, and owned by Messrs. Murphy, Moreton,
and J. Birkley, of Washington, Ky., and Messrs. Armstrong
and Campbell, of Maysville.
Forty-ninth boat, the " Columbus," four hundred and sixty
tons, built at New Orleans in 1819, and owned by a company
there. She was afterwards engaged in the Louisville trade.
Fiftieth boat, the "General Clark," one hundred and fifty
tons, built at Louisville in 1819, and owned by a company there.
Fifty-first boat, the "Vulcan," three hundred tons, built at
Cincinnati, 1819, for the New Orleans trade, and owned by James
& Douglass and Hugh & James, all of Cincinnati.
Fifty-second boat, the " Missouri," one hundred and seventy-
five tons, built at Newport, Ky., 1819, owned by John and
Walker Yeastman, and destined for the St. Louis trade.
Fifty-third boat, the " New Comet," one hundred tons, altered
from a barge called the "Eliza" in 1819, owned by Isaac Hough
and James W. Byrne, of Cincinnati, and intended for the New
Orleans trade.
Fifty-fourth boat, the "Newport," fifty tons, built at New-
port, Ky., in 1819, owned by a company at New Orleans, and
in 1819 engaged in the Red River trade.
Fifty-fifth boat, the " Tennessee," four hundred tons, built
at Cincinnati in 1S19, owned by Messrs. Breedlove & Bardford,
of New Orleans, and a company of Nashville, afterwards em-
ployed in the Louisville trade. The " Tennessee" was sunk in
the Mississippi by striking a snag on a very dark night in 1823.
The loss of life was large, some sixty-odd persons being drowned,
among them several persons of distinction. This disaster caused
great excitement throughout the country, and deterred numbers
from traveling on steamboats.
Fifty-sixth boat, the "General Robinson," two hundred and
fifty t»ns, built at Newport, Ky., in 1819, owned by a company
at Nashville, and run in that trade.
Fifty-seventh boat, the " United States," seven hundred tons,
built at Jeflersonville, Ind., for the Natchez trade in 1819, and
owned by Hart and others. She was the largest steamboat
which had been built in the Western country.
Fifty-eighth bout, the ''Post-Boy," two hundred tons, built
at New Albany, Ind., in 1819, owned by H. M. Shreve and
others, and run from Louisville to New Orleans. This was one
of the packets employed by the Postmaster-General for carry-
ing the mail between those places, according to an act of Con-
gress passed March, 1819. By this act the whole expense was
not to exceed that of transporting the mail by land.
Fifty-ninth boat, the " Elizabeth, " one hundred and fifty
tons, built at Salt River, Ky., in 1819, owned by a company at
Elizabeth, Ky., and engaged in the New Orleans trade.
Sixtieth boat, the " Fayette," one hundred and fifty tons,
built in J819, owned by John Gray and others, in the Louis-
ville trade.
1100
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
The arrival about March 1, 1819, of "the large
and elegant steamboat ' Washington' " from New Or-
leans, which city she left on the 1st of February, was
announced in the Gazette of March 3d. The steam-
boat " Harriet" arrived from the same port early in
April. The "Sea-Horse," which arrived at New Or-
leans from New York, and the " Maid of Orleans,"
which reached the same port from Philadelphia early
in 1819, were probably the first steamboats that ever
performed a voyage of any length on the ocean.
The " Maid of Orleans" continued her voyage to
St. Louis, where she arrived about the 1st of May.
On the same day the steamboat " Independence,"
Capt. Nelson, arrived from Louisville. The Missouri
Gazette of the 19th of May, 1819, has the following
steamboat memoranda :
" The ' Expedition/ Capt. Craig, arrived here on Wednesday
last, destined for the Yellowstone. The 'Maid of Orleans,'
Capt. Turner, sailed for New Orleans, and the 'Independence,'
Capt. Nelson, for Franklin, on the Missouri, on Sunday last.
The ' Exchange,' Capt. Whips, arrived here on Monday, and
will return to Louisville in a few days for a new set of boilers,
she having burst her boiler in ascending the Mississippi.
"The 'St. Louis,' Capt. Hewes, the 'James Monroe/ and
' Hamlet' were advertised to sail from New Orleans to St. Louis
about the middle of last month.
" In 1817, less than two years ago, the first steamboat arrived
at St. Louis. We hailed it as the day of small things, but the
glorious consummation of all our wishes is daily arriving.
Already during the present season we have seen on our shores
five steamboats and several more daily expected. Who would
or could have dared to conjecture that in 1819 we would have
witnessed the arrival of a steamboat from Philadelphia or New
York ? yet such is the fact. The Mississippi has become familiar
to this great American invention, and another new arena is
open. A steamboat, owned by individuals, has started from
St. Louis for Franklin, two hundred miles up the Missouri, and
two others are now here destined for the Yellowstone. The
time is fast approaching when a journey to the Pacific will
become as familiar, and indeed more so, than it was fifteen or
twenty years ago to Kentucky or Ohio. ' Illustrious nation/
said a distinguished foreigner, speaking of the New York
canal, 'illustrious nation, whose conceptions are only equaled
by her achievements.' "
The " Independence," Capt. Nelson, was the first
steamboat that entered the Missouri River. Sailing
from St. Louis in May, 1819, she reached Franklin,
on the Missouri, after a voyage of thirteen days,1
Sixty-first boat, the " Elkhorn," three hundred ton?, built at
Portland, Ky., in 1819, owned by Messrs. Gray & Anderson,
in the New Orleans trade.
Sixty-second boat, the " Providence," two hundred ton?, built
near Frankfort, Ky., in 1819, and owned by L. Castleman A ('<>.
Sixty-third boat, the " General Putnam," two hundred tons
built at Newport, Ky., in 1819, owned by James M. Byrne &
Co., of Cincinnati, and engaged in the New Orleans trade.
i "FnAKKi.iN (BOON'S LICK), May 19, 1819.
"ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMBOAT. — With no ordinary sensation
of pride and pleasure we announce the arrival this morning at
of which four days were spent at different landings.
Her voyage extended up the Missouri to Old Chariton,
from whence she returned to St. Louis.2 The United
States government the year previous had determined
to explore the Missouri River up to the Yellowstone,
and for that purpose, as elsewhere stated, Major S.
H. Long had built at Pittsburgh the " Western En-
gineer."
To Col. Henry Atkinson had been intrusted the
command of this expedition, and starting from
Plattsburgh, N. Y.. in the latter part of 1818, he
arrived in Pittsburgh in the spring of 1819. The
" Western Engineer" was completed soon after, and
arrived at St. Louis June 8, 1819. On the 21st the
expedition started for the Missouri.3 " It was ac-
this place of th'e elegant steamboat 'Independence/ Capt. Nel-
son, in seven .sailing days (but thirteen from the time of her
departure) from St. Louis, with passengers and cargo of flour,
whiskey, sugar, iron castings, etc., being the first steamboat that
ever attempted ascending the Missouri. She was joyfully met
by the inhabitants of Franklin, and saluted by the firing of
cannon, which was returned by the ' Independence.'
" The grand desideratum, the important fact, is now ascer-
tained that steamboats can safely navigate the Missouri."
s " On Wednesday last arrived steamboat ' Harriet/ Capt.
Armitage, twenty-six days from New Orleans.
" On Sunday arrived the ' Johnson/ from Cape Girardeau,
with United States stores, one of the fleet destined for the Mis-
souri expedition.
" On Saturday the steamboat ' Independence/ Capt. Nelson,
arrived from Franklin and Chariton, on the Missouri. The
' Independence' has met with no accident on her route, although
much troubled with bars and the impediments in the channel
of the river. Both the inhabitants of Franklin and Chariton
gave a dinner to the captain and passengers on board. The
'Independence' was three days coming from Franklin, but only
running nineteen hours. She has been absent from St. Louis
in all twenty-one days. This trip forms a proud event in the
history of Missouri. The Missouri has hitherto resisted almost
effectually all attempts at navigation ; she has opposed every
obstacle she could to the tide of emigration which was rolling
up her banks and dispossessing her dear red children, but her
white children, although children by adoption, have become so
numerous, and are increasing so rapidly, that she is at last
obliged to yield them her favor. The first attempt to ascend
her by steam has succeeded, and we anticipate the day as speedy
when the Missouri will be as familiar to steamboats as the Mis-
sissippi or Ohio. Capt. Nelson merits and will receive deserved
credit for his enterprise and public spirit in this undertaking."
— Gazette, June 9, 1819.
* " The steamboat ' Johnson' passed here on Wednesday last
with troops, etc., for the Yellowstone." — Gazette, May 25, 1819.
" The steamboat ' Jefferson' arrived on Saturday last from
Louisville. She is another of Col. Johnson's boats destined
for the Western expedition, and has been delayed by the
breaking of her machinery." — Gazette, June 23, 1819.
"The ' Western Engineer' left St. Louis on Monday, the 21st
inst., and proceeded on her journey up the Missouri. This
undertaking is worthy of an enlightened and patriotic gov-
ernment, and its success will confer deserved renown both on
its projectors and its executors." — Gazette, June 23, 1819.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1101
companied by three other United States steamers and
nine keel-boats, bearing a detachment of government
troops. The names of the steamboats and of their
commanders were ' Thomas Jefferson,' Capt. Orfort ;
* R. M. Johnson,1 Capt. Colfax ; and the ' Expedition,'
Capt. Craig.
" The little fleet entered the Missouri with martial
music, display of flags, and salute of cannon. In
honor of the statesman who acquired the territory of
Louisiana for the United States, the precedence was
accorded to the ' Thomas Jefferson,' but some disar-
rangement of its machinery prevented this boat from
taking the lead, and the ' Expedition' secured the
distinction of being the first steamer of this flotilla to
enter 'the Missouri. The 'Thomas Jefferson' was
doomed to a still worse mishap, for not long after
it ran on a snag and sank.
" The steam-escape of the ' Western Engineer' was
shaped like a great serpent coiled on the bow of the
boat in the attitude of springing, and the steam hiss-
ing from the fiery mouth of the python filled the In-
dians with terror. They thought that the wrath of
the Great Spirit had sent this monster for their chas-
tisement."1
The Gazette of the 2d of June contained the fol-
lowing " steamboat news :"
" Arrived at this place on the 1st instant the fast-sailing and
elegant steamboat St. Louis, Capt. Hewes, in twenty-eight days
from New Orleans; passengers, Col. Atkinson and Maj. Mcln-
tosh, of the United States army, and others. The captain has
politely favored us with the following from his log-book : ' On
the oth May left New Orleans. At 3 P.M. passed steamboat
Volcano, bound down. 10th, at 6 A.M., passed steamboat James \
Ross ; at 11 P.M. passed steamboat Jiifleman, at anchor, with
shaft broke. 15th, at 3 P.M., passed steamboat Madison, six |
days from the Falls of the Ohio. 20th, passed steamboat Gov-
ernor Shelby, bound for New Orleans. 22d, run on a sand-bar and >
was detained till next day. 26th, at 7 P.M., at the grand turn
below Island No. 60, passed nine keel-boats, with Sixth' Regi-
ment United States Infantry, commanded by Col. Atkinson,
destined for the Missouri; at 11 P.M. took on board Col. Atkin- |
son and Miij. Mclntosh ; at quarter past eleven run aground, i
and lost anchor and part of cable. 27th, the steamboat Har- \
riet passed while at anchor. 28th, at 3 P.M., passed steamboat
Jefferson, with United States troops, having broke her piston ;
at 4 P.M. repassed the steamboat Harriet.' "
On the 9th the same paper announced that Capt.
Hewes, of the " St. Louis," had gratified the citizens
of St. Louis with a sail to the mouth of the Missouri,
" Last week Col. Henry Atkinson, on seeing the ferry-boats
worked by wheels, immediately conceived the idea of applying
them to the barges bound up the Missouri with United States
troops, stores, etc. In about three days he had one of the
barges rigged with wheels and a trial made, in which she was
run up the Missouri about two mile? and back in thirty min-
utes."— Gazette, June 30, 1819.
1 Professor Waterhouse.
70
and that " the company on board was large and gen-
teel, and the entertainment very elegant."
The return of the " Maid of Orleans," Capt. Tur-
ner, on the 28th of July, and the departure of the
" Yankee," Capt. Hairston, early in December for
New Orleans, complete the record of steamboating
for 1819.
About this time began the long and active career
on the river of Capt. John C. Swon, one of the best-
known names in the steamboat trade of St. Louis.
Capt. Swon was born in Scott County, Ky., May 16,
1803. His father was an early pioneer from Mary-
land, and a large land-owner in Kentucky. He died
: in 1814 while locating lands in St. Francis County,
\ Mo., and young Swon passed under the guardianship
of Col. R. M. Johnson, who had then lately been
Vice-President of the United States. In 1819 the
boy sailed up the Missouri to Council Bluffs, and
was so infatuated with the river that he resolved to
follow it for a livelihood. The wild and romantic
scenery of the Missouri, the high bluffs, dense forests,
and broad prairies offered special attractions to the
eye and fired his youthful imagination. In the fol-
lowing year he returned home and obtained permis-
sion from his guardian to engage in the river trade.
Consequently, in 1821, Capt. Swon obtained a
position as clerk on the " Calhoun," under Capt. Silas
Craig, and for two years was engaged in the St. Louis
and Louisville trade, the boat occasionally making a
trip to New Orleans, when Swon usually had charge
of the vessel himself.
From 1823 to 1830, Capt. Swon was connected
with several of the most famous boats of that period,
among which may be mentioned the " Steubenville,"
" Governor Brown," and " America," under Capt.
Crawford and Capt. Alexander Scott.
In 1825, Capt. Swon, having formed an extremely
favorable idea of the place from his frequent visits,
made St. Louis his permanent home. In 1830 he
temporarily left St. Louis and went to Pittsburgh,
Pa., where, in company with Capt. James Wood, of
that city, he built the " Carrollton." He subse-
quently took charge of that vessel, and ran her in
the St. Louis and New Orleans trade. In 1833 he
built the " Missouri," and commanded her for one
season ; in the next year he built the " Majestic," in
1835 the "Selma," and in 1837 the "St. Louis,"
the largest steamer up to that time ever employed on
the Mississippi.
In 1839 he sold the "St. Louis," and engaged in
the wholesale grocery business in St. Louis with R. A.
Barnes, the firm being Barnes & Swon, but in 1840
he retired from the partnership and resumed his old
1102
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
calling. He then returned to Pittsburgh, and brought
out the " Missouri" in 1841. In August of that year
the boat was destroyed by fire while lying at the
wharf at St. Louis. Undaunted, however, Capt. Swon
went to Louisville, and purchased the " Alexander
Scott" in 1842, and managed her until 1845, when
he sold her, and purchased an interest in the " J. M.
White," which vessel he commanded until 1847,
when he sold her, and proceeded to comply with a
resolution, formed on account of family reasons, to
build just one more boat and then leave the river.
He contracted for the " Aleck Scott," and launched
her in March, 1848, for the Missouri trade. Both
the " Alexander Scott" (previously mentioned) and
the " Aleck Scott" were named in honor of one of
young Swon's earliest captains, Alexander Scott, one
of the best known river-men of that period. Capt.
Swon commanded the " Aleck Scott" until July, 1854,
when he sold her and retired from the river, thus
ending a long, active, and useful career, devoted to the
development of the river interests of Missouri.
In 1857 he purchased a beautiful place at Webster
Station, on the Missouri Pacific, and lived there sev-
eral years in rural quiet. In 1867-68 he disposed of
it and visited Europe. Upon his return he settled
in St. Louis, where he has continued to reside, enjoy-
ing in well- earned ease the fruits of a more than
usually industrious manhood.
Capt. Swon has been twice married. His first wife,
whom he married in 1830, was Anna Kennett, sister
of L. M. Kennett, ex-mayor of St. Louis. Of this
union two children were born, who are now dead.
After three years of singularly happy married life
Mrs. Swon died, and Capt. Swon married Miss Ken-
nett, a cousin of his first wife. This lady died in the
spring of 1882, leaving no living children.
Capt. Swon was chosen superintendent of the Ohio
and Mississippi Railroad in the early stages of that
enterprise, but did not accept the position. He is a
director in the Hope Mining Company, his only busi-
ness connection, although he has been solicited to
assist numerous enterprises. He has taken a lively
interest in the problems of transportation which St.
Louis has had to grapple with, and cherishes an
honest pride in his own labors in that direction,
having done probably as much as any one man to de-
velop the river and steamboat interests of the city
and State. Well preserved and wonderfully fresh for
a man over eighty years of age, he remains one of the
few survivors of the adventurous class of steamboat-
men who aided so largely in building up the river
commerce of the Mississippi valley.
The first steamboat that ascended the upper Mis-
sissippi was the " Virginia," which arrived at Fort
Snelling in May, 1823. The Missouri and upper
Mississippi had now been opened to regular naviga-
tion, and the steamboat traffic of the great river and
its tributaries developed rapidly. On the 27th of
j August, 1825, the Republican announced that there
were two steamboats, the " Brown" and " Magnet,"
now lying here for the purpose of repairing, and
added, " We believe this is the first instance of a
; steamboat's remaining here through the season of
low water." The expansion of the steamboat busi-
ness continued without interruption, and in its issue
of April 19, 1827, the Republican commented upon
i it as follows :
" During the past week our wharf has exhibited a greater
1 show of business than we recollect to have ever before seen,
j and the number of steam and other boats arriving and depart-
i ing has been unprecedented. The immense trade which has
opened between this place and Fevre River at the present
employs, besides a number of keels, six steamboats, to wit:
the 'Indiana,' 'Shamrock,' 'Hamilton,' 'Muskingum,'
' Mexico' and ' Mechanic.' The ' Indiana' and ' Shamrock'
on their return trips have been deeply freighted with lead,
and several keel-boats likewise have arrived with the same
article. Judging from the thousands of people who have
gone this spring to make their fortunes at the lead-mines, we
should suppose that the quantity of lead produced this year
will be tenfold greater than heretofore."
Again, on the 12th of July, the same paper re-
marked that it must be gratifying to every citizen of
St. Louis to witness the steady advancement of the
town, " the number of steamboats that have arrived
and departed during the spring" being cited as " the
; best evidence of the increase of business." During
I 1832 there were eighty arrivals of steamboats at
St. Louis, whose aggregate tonnage amounted to
9520 tons. In 1834 the number of steamboats on
the Mississippi and its tributaries was 230, their ton-
nage aggregating 39,000 tons. There were also
1,426,000 feet of plank, joists and scantling, 1,628,-
000 shingles, 15,000 rails, 1700 cedar logs, 8946
cords of wood, and 95,250 bushels of coal landed
from the boats, together with 12,195 barrels and
sixty half-barrels of flour, 463 barrels and twenty
half-barrels of pork, and 233 barrels and fifty half-
barrels of beef.
In 1836 the " Champion," Capt. Mix, performed
the trip from Vicksburg to Pittsburgh, and thence to
St. Louis, in seven days' running time ; and between
St. Louis and Louisville in fifty hours, " passing the
' Paul Jones' and several other boats with ease."
She was beaten, however, in June of that year by
the " Paul Jones." In announcing this fact the Re-
publican stated that the captain of the " Champion"
(which was an Eastern-built boat) " acknowledges
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1103
his inability to go ahead of our Western boats," and
that he would shortly start with his boat for the At-
lantic cities via New Orleans.
During the same month seventy-six different
steamboats arrived at St. Louis, the aggregate ton-
nage of which was 10,774, the number of entries
being 146, and the wharfage $930. The same ac-
tivity continued in 1837, and the Republican notes
the presence of thirty-three steamboats receiving and
discharging cargo on one day in April, 1837.
The steamboat " North St. Louis" was launched on
the 29th of March, 1837, from the yard of Messrs.
Thomas & Green. This boat was said to have been
a " splendid specimen of the enterprise, the genius,
and the art of our Western citizens," and was regarded
as " the finest boat which has ever floated upon the
Mississippi." *
On the 10th of October, 1838, the subject of es-
tablishing a steamship line from St. Louis to Eastern
cities was considered at a meeting of merchants at
the Merchants' Exchange. John Smith was ap-
pointed chairman, and A. G. Farwell secretary.
The object of the meeting having been stated by
the chair, it was on motion ordered that a committee
of five persons be appointed to prepare resolutions for
the action of the meeting. The chair appointed
Messrs. D. L. Holbrook, N. E. Janney, A. B. Cham-
bers, A. G. Farwell, and R. M. Strother as this com-
mittee.
After a short absence the committee returned and
reported the following :
" Resoh-ed, That the establishment of a line of steamships
from some Eastern port or ports to this city is a subject of deep
interest to the citizens of St. Louis, and that in the opinion of
this meeting it is expedient.
" Ecuolced, That a committee of persons be appointed to
correspond with such individuals in the Eastern cities, and with
such other persons as they may deem proper upon the subject,
and that they be requested to put themselves in possession of
as many facts connected with the proposed enterprise as pos-
sible, and that they report at as early an adjourned meeting as
practicable.
" Kenolred, That a committee of persons be appointed to
collect facts and statistics relating to the import and export
trade of St. Louis, and the necessity of opening a direct trade
with the Eastern ports, its profits and utility, and report at an
adjourned meeting."
The question being upon the adoption of the first
resolution, Messrs. N. Ranney, A. B. Chambers, R.
M. Strother, N. E. Janney, John F. Hunt, and the
chairman severally addressed the meeting, after which
the resolutions were unanimously adopted.
On motion it was ordered that the blank in the
1 The death of Joseph Bates, captain of the steamboat
ville," occurred on the :">th of April, 1837.
; Boon-
second resolution be filled with " five," and that in
third resolution be filled with "fifteen," whereupon
the chair appointed Messrs. A. G. Farwell, A. B.
Chambers, Hezekiah King, J. B. Camden, and E.
Bredell the committee under the second resolution,
and Messrs. Adam B. Chambers, N. E. Janney, D. L.
Holbrook, Reuben M. Strother, William Glasgow, H.
Von Phul, E. H. Beebe, John F. Hunt, N. Ranney,
Edward Walsh, G. K. McGunnegle, J. 0. Agnew,
B. Clapp, E. Tracy, and 0. Rhodes the committee
under the third resolution.
On motion of Capt. N. Ranney, John Smith was
added to the first committee as chairman.
The steamboat and lumber register for 1838 shows
the number of steamers which entered the port of St.
Louis during the year to have been 154, and the ag-
gregate tonnage 22,752 ; the number of entries, 1014 ;
and the wharfage collected, $7279.84.
The steamboat " Ottawa" was the first boat built
on the Illinois. She was constructed in part at Ot-
tawa, added to at Peru, and finished at St. Louis.
She was of the very lightest draught, seventeen inches
light, and had a powerful engine, the design being to
take two keels in tow in low water, the steamer her-
self being light ; so that whenever there were seven-
teen inches of water on the bars, she would-be able
to reach St. Louis with one hundred tons of freight
weekly. Her length was one hundred feet, breadth
twenty, and the cabin was laid off entirely in state-
rooms. The owners resided in Ottawa.
In 1840 the number of steamboats on the Mississippi
and its tributaries was two hundred and eighty-five,
with an aggregate tonnage of forty-nine thousand eight
hundred tons.
The steamboat " Missouri," then the longest boat
on Western waters, visited St. Louis about the 1st of
April, 1841. Her length was two hundred and thirty-
three feet, the width of her hull was thirty feet, and
her entire breadth, guards included, fifty-nine feet.
The depth of her hold was eight and a half feet, and
this was the quantity of water she drew when fully
loaded. Her light draught was five feet four inches.
The diameter of her wheels was thirty-two feet, and
the length of buckets twelve feet. Her cylinders
were twenty-six inches in diameter, with a twelve-foot
stroke. She had two engines and seven forty-two-inch
boilers. She was steered by chains, and was well fur-
nished with hose and other apparatus for the extin-
guishment of fires.
The " Missouri" carried six hundred tons, and was
built at Pittsburgh for and under the direction of
Capt. J. C. Swon, of St. Louis, at a cost of forty-five
thousand dollars.
1104
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
She was intended as a regular trader between St.
Louis and New Orleans, but, as heretofore stated, was
burned at St. Louis in August, 1841.
In 1842 two boat-yards for the construction of
steamboats and other river-craft were in existence
in St. Louis, and during this year the number of
steamboats on the Mississippi and its tributaries was
four hundred and fifty, with an aggregate tonnage of
about ninety thousand tons.1
In 1843 the number was six hundred and seventy-
two, with an aggregate tonnage of one hundred and
thirty-four thousand four hundred, and in addition
to the steamers there were about four thousand flats
and keels. For the year 1844 the enrolled and licensed
tonnage of Western rivers amounted to one hundred
and forty-four thousand one hundred and fifty tons.
Messrs. Harvey, Premeau & Co., under the style of
the St. Louis Fur Company, chartered the steamer j
" Clermont, No. 2," D. G. Taylor commander, in
Jnne, 1846, and the boat sailed for the head-waters |
of the Missouri on the 7th to trade with Sioux and
Blackfeet Indians. The improvements in the con- [
struction of steamboats had been such that the time
consumed in the voyage from New Orleans to St.
Louis, which in early days had occupied weeks, had
in 1844 been reduced to a few days. On the 9th of
May, 1844, the Republican made the following an-
nouncement :
" What has heretofore been merely the speculation of enthu-
siasts has been realized. New Orleans has been brought within
less than four days' travel of St. Louis, — in immediate neighbor-
hood propinquity. The steamboat ' J. M. White' has been the
first to accomplish this extraordinary trip.
" The ' J. M. White' left this port on Monday, April 29th, at
three o'clock P.M., with six hundred tons of freight, and arrived
at Xew Orleans on Friday evening, the 3d inst., being three
days and sixteen hours on her downward trip. She departed
for St. Louis on Saturday, May 4, 1844, at forty minutes after
five o'clock P.M., and arrived on the 8th, having made the trip up
in three days and twenty-three hours, and having been but nine
days on the voyage out and home, including all detention.
" The following are the runs up from wharf to wharf, the
best time ever made by any steamboat on the Western waters .
"From New Orleans to Natchez, 300 miles, 20 h. 40 m.
" " " Vicksburg, 410 miles, 29 h. 55 m.
" " " Montgomery's, 625 miles, 1 day 13 h.
8 m.
" " " Memphis, 775 miles, 2 days 12 h. 8m.
" " " Cairo, 1000 miles, 3 days 6 h. 44 m.
" " " St. Louis, 1200 miles, 3 days 23 h. 9m."
One of the leading steamboat men of St. Louis
about this time was Capt. W. W. Greene. William
Wallace Greene was born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1798.
His father, Charles Greene, was of the Rhode Island
1 Elliot R. Hopkins, collector of the port, died on the 18th of
September, 1842.
family of Greenes which furnished the country one of
its most successful Revolutionary generals. He was
a merchant in Marietta from 1796 to 1812, and also
engaged in the building of ships on a large scale for
those days, constructing three ships, two or three
brigs, and several schooners, which he owned in con-
nection with R. J. Meigs, Col. Lord, and Benjamin
Ives Gilman, prominent men of that period. Charles
Greene's wife was Elizabeth Wallace, of Philadelphia.
From these parents William Wallace Greene inher-
ited sterling qualities of heart and mind and elevated
religious principles. Reverses in the large shipping
interests of his father threw him early in life upon his
own resources, and with no capital save energy, a good
character, sound common sense, and a fair education,
he left home for busier and more promising fields.
He first went to Dayton, Ohio, where for seven years
he was employed in the general merchandise estab-
lishment of his cousins, Steele & Pierce. He then
removed to Louisville, Ky., and New Albany, Ind.,
continuing in the mercantile business until 1820,
when he engaged as clerk on the steamboat " Ohio,"
running in the New Orleans trade, and for two years
was employed on the river. In 1822 he again em-
barked in mercantile pursuits at Hamilton, Ohio.
In the following year he removed to Cincinnati and
commenced business as a commission and forwarding
merchant. Soon after, in connection with his brother
Robert, he built the low-pressure steamer " De Witt
Clinton," the fastest boat of her day on the Western
waters. When finished he took command of her, but
soon resigned her to his uncle, Maj. Robert Wallace,
of Louisville, Ky. The Greene brothers then built
the low-pressure steamers " Native" and " Fairy," and
followed in quick succession with others, until they
owned a large flotilla of very fine and fast boats, some
engaged in the Cincinnati and Louisville trade, others
in the Cincinnati trade, and still others in the Ar-
kansas, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers. Capt. W. W.
Greene commanded several of these vessels, and was
as well and favorably known as any officer who navi-
gated the great rivers of the West. In 1832-33 he
commanded the high-pressure steamer " Superior,"
employed in the Cincinnati and New Orleans trade.
In 1834, Capt. Greene, in connection with his bro-
ther-in-law, Capt. Joseph Conn, built the " Cygnet,"
with vibrating cylinders ; and while running this
boat they removed to St. Louis and made that city
their residence and base of operations. Greene was
captain, and Conn was clerk ; and so officered, the
" Cygnet" for several years did a prosperous business
on the Mississippi, Arkansas, and Illinois Rivers.
In 1837, Capts. Greene and Conn sold the " Cygnet,"
Bfei
«
n
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1105
and, in connection with James R. Sprigg, engaged in
the auction and commission business under the firm-
name of Conn, Sprigg & Greene (a partnership easily
recalled by many of the older citizens and one of the
leading houses of that period). The firm was also at
times interested as part owner in the steamers " Cas-
pian," " Vandalia," " Oregon," and " Osage," all em-
ployed in the St. Louis and New Orleans trade.
Capt. Greene enjoyed in a marked degree the con-
fidence of the community. In 1842 (Bernard Pratte
being mayor) he was appointed harbor-master; in 1845,
local agent of the Post-Office Department ; and in 1849
surveyor and collector of the port of St. Louis, which
office he resigned in 1853 to accept the presidency of
the Globe Mutual Insurance Company, to which he
was annually elected for many years. All who knew
him will remember with what unfailing urbanity and
fidelity he discharged these important public trusts.
In 1827, Capt. Greene was married to Sarah A.
Conn, daughter of an old and well-known citizen of
Cincinnati. He died April 16, 1873, leaving two
daughters.
Capt. Greene was an honored, consistent, and use-
ful member of the Presbyterian Church. For many
years he was a ruling elder, and brought to the duties
of that office the zeal and fidelity which he always
exhibited in his secular employments. In all the
relations of life, in fact, Capt. Greene was a man of
the strictest rectitude, untiring energy, and ready gen-
erosity. His death was that of the resigned and hope-
ful Christian, weary, however, under the accumulated
burdens of years.
The following resume of steamboating at St. Louis
is from the Republican of Jan. 5, 1847 :
" During the year 1845 there were 213 steamboats engaged
in the trade of St. Louis, with an aggregate tonnage of 42,922
tons, and 2050 steamboat arrivals, with an aggregate tonnage
of 358,045 tons, to which may be added 346 keel- and flat-boats.
During the year 1846 there were 251 steamboats, having an
aggregate tonnage of 53,867 tons, engaged in the St. Louis com-
merce. These boats made 2411 trips to our port, making an
aggregate tonnage of 407,824 tons. In the same year there
were 881 keel- and flat-boat arrivals.
" To exhibit the time of their arrival, and their tonnage, and
to show at what period the heaviest portion of our commerce is
carried on, we subjoin a statement of the arrivals for each
month :
Arrived. Steamers. Tonnage. ^K^efs"*1
January 53 8,917 6
February 152 26,111 35
March 158 31,580 22
April 195 49,334 44
May 372 78,124 68
June 295 60,043 38
July 193 46,554 68
August 211 37,553 75
September 171 28,331 72
October 237 37,538 162
November 185 31,346 171
December 190 32,393 120
"The trade in St. Louis in 1846 employed, as we have stated,
251 boats, of an aggregate tonnage of 53,867 tons. If we esti-
mate the cost of these boats at $50 per ton, which is below the
true average, we have an investment in the shipping of this city
of $2,693,350; and if we allow an average of 25 persons, in-
cluding all those employed directly upon the boat, to each vessel,
we have a total of 6275 persons engaged in their navigation.
Add to these the owners, workmen, builders, agents, shippers,
and all those connected or interested in this commerce, from the
time the timber is taken from the forest or the ore from the
mine, arid the list will be swelled to many thousands."
The number of enrolled and licensed steamboats on
Western rivers in 1845 was 789, with an aggregate
tonnage of 159,713 tons.
The steamers running on the upper Mississippi
from 1823 to 1844 were used mainly to transport
supplies for the Indian traders and the troops stationed
at Fort Snelling. Previous to the arrival of the
" Virginia" at Fort Snelling in May, 1823, keel-boats
were used for this trade, and sixty days from St.
Louis to Fort Snelling was considered a good trip.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury for 1846
makes the following exhibit of enrolled and licensed
tonnage of the West: New Orleans, 180,504.81 ; St.
Louis, 22,425.92 ; Pittsburgh, 17,162.94; Cincinnati,
15,312.86 ; Louisville, 8172.26 ; Nashville, 2809.23 ;
Wheeling, 2666.76; total, 249,054.77 tons. Apply-
ing to this volume of tonnage the average of 210
tons to a steamboat, there were 1190 employed on
Western rivers, which at $65 per ton cost 816,188,561.
Supposing these boats to run 220 days in a year at a
cost of $125 per day, their annual expense amounted
to $32,725,000, and they employed 41 ,650 persons.
The cost of the river transportation in 1846 was esti-
mated at$41,154,194.1
The rapid increase of the steamboating interest of
St. Louis is thus set forth in the Republican of the
27th of January, 1848 :
" In no department of business has the rapid growth of St.
Louis as a commercial port been made so undeniably manifest
as in her shipping by means of steamboats. The first steam-
boat arrival at St. Louis was in 1817. At that time the whole
commerce of New Orleans was carried on by about twenty barges
of one hundred tons each, and one hundred and sixty keel- and
flat-boats of about thirty tons each, making a total tonnage of
from six thousand to seven thousand tons. In 1834 the whole
number of steamboats on the Mississippi and its tributaries was
two hundred and thirty, with a total tonnage of thirty-nine
thousand tons. In 1840 the number was two hundred and
eighty-five, with a tonnage of forty-nine thousand eight hun-
dred. In 1842 the number was four hundred' and fifty, with a
tonnage of about ninety thousand tons. In 1843 the number
rose to six hundred and seventy-two, with a tonnage of one
hundred and thirty-four thousand four hundred. In 1846, by
reference to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the
1 The Commerce and Navigation of the Valley of the Missis-
sippi, p. 7.
1106
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
licensed and enrolled steamboat tonnage, the number is stated
at eleven hundred and ninety, with a tonnage of two hundred
and forty-nine thousand and fifty-four tons.
"In 1839 there were one thousand four hundred and seventy-
six steamboat arrivals at this port, with a total tonnage of
two hundred and thirteen thousand one hundred and ninety-
three tons. In 1840 there were seventeen hundred and twenty-
one arrivals ; tonnage, two hundred and forty-four thousand
one hundred and eighty-six. In 18-44 there were two thou-
sand one hundred and five arrivals; tonnage, four hundred
and sixty-seven thousand eight hundred and twenty-four. In
eight years, from 1839 to the end of 1847, the number of steam-
boat arrivals and the aggregate tonnage have more than doubled.
The arrivals in 1847 exceed those of 1839 by four hundred and
eighty-nine, and the tonnage by three hundred and seventy-one
thousand four hundred and forty -six tons."1
In 1851 three steamboats went up the Minnesota
River, and in 1852 one boat ran regularly up that
river during the season. In 1853 the business re-
quired an average of one boat per day. In 1854 the
trade had largely increased, and in 1855 the arrivals
of steamers from the Minnesota numbered 119.
In 1852 the novel application of the steamboat to
the purposes of a circus was made by Capt. Jack,
well known to thousands of the " old-timers" in the
Mississippi valley from his long connection with the
show business. In that year he was engaged in build-
ing at Cincinnati the great " Floating Palace" for
Spalding & Rogers' circus, among the oldest and most
successful managers in that line in the United States.
Capt. Jack purchased an interest in the floating palace,
and began his career as a showman at Pittsburgh.
The boat carried an amphitheatre, in which the eques-
trian performances took place, which was capable of
seating one thousand persons. From Pittsburgh they
descended the Ohio and Mississippi to New Or-
leans, giving exhibitions at all places along the banks.
From New Orleans they steamed across the gulf to
Mobile, and from Mobile the palace ascended the
Alabama River to the head of navigation at Wetunka,
and, returning, went up the Black Warrior to Colum-
bia. Returning to Mobile and New Orleans, they
started on the spring campaign up the Mississippi,
and, arriving at St. Louis, exhibited at the foot of
Poplar Street to an audience of twenty-five hundred
people for three days. The crowd was so immense
that they charged one dollar " permission," instead of
admission tickets, to those who were unable to get in,
for the privilege of looking in at the windows. G.
R. Spalding was the manager of the concern, and Mr.
Van Norton the general agent. The palace continued
to exhibit successfully along the Mississippi, Missouri,
and Ohio Rivers until 1860, when the boat was
beached in New Orleans. Capt. Jack then engaged
on the " Banjo" with a French Zouave troupe, which
exhibited on all the principal tributaries of the lower
Mississippi, up the Red River, the Cache, La Fourche,
and Atchafalaya, and on the Mississippi at Fort
Adams. On the 19th of July, 1862, they entered
the boundaries of the Southern Confederacy, and
at New Iberia and Franklin, La., gave shows for
the benefit of the soldiers of the Confederate States.
In 1862, Spalding & Rogers organized their outfit
for South America. Mr. Spalding offered Capt. Jack
an interest in the venture, advising him at the same
time that it was hazardous. " You," said Mr. Spald-
ing, " are now well fixed, and may lose all, but if we
lose all we can stand it." Capt. Jack went into busi-
ness for himself, and lost largely in Confederate cur-
rency, but came out finally very successful. He was
from Ohio, and arrived in St. Louis in 1849 with but
one dollar in his pocket. Spalding & Rogers returned
from their South American venture in 1866, having
made money. They returned with all their company
except one lady, who died on the trip. Capt. Jack
owed his success in life to his former employe, Gr. R.
Spalding, who died in New Orleans in February,
1880. Mrs. Spalding died six months afterwards,
leaving Charles Spalding, of St. Louis, who was their
only living son, as their heir.
During the season of 1856 trade upon the Missis-
sippi was very prosperous, and the arrivals at St. Paul
exhibited an increase over any previous year, notwith-
standing the season of navigation was much shorter
than that of the year before.2
In the year 1870s the most remarkable event which
1 Capt. Alfred Rodgers, formerly a commander of one of the
finest steamboats on the river, and for the last year or eigh-
teen months of his life engaged in the commission and produce
business in St. Louis, died on the 13th of June, 1849.
1 In July, 1857, the steamer " Louisiana," commanded by
Capt. J. Harry Johnson, with S. D. Bradley, clerk, and Capt.-
D. R. Asbury, pilot; Joseph Brennan, engineer; and Hugh
Maney, mate, fired her gun from a point between the shot-
tower and water-works at eight minutes after four o'clock A.M.,
and arrived at Keokuk, a distance of two hundred and forty
miles, making the run all the way against a swift current, by
eight o'clock and sixteen minutes P.M., in sixteen hours and
eight minutes. On her memorable run the " Louisiana" landed
at Hannibal, and lost some twenty-four minutes. She beat the
fastest time ever before made, that of the " Hannibal City,"
forty-one minute?.
"The " Jennie Bonnie," a little yacht commanded by Capt.
Carpenter, arrived at St. Louis June 14, 1870, from New
Orleans, in tow of the " Mary Alice." Capt. Carpenter had
started over a year previously from the coast of Maine, and had
made a voyage of over twenty-six thousand miles, including
the survey of harbors and inlets, terminated by his arrival at
St. Louis. The crew consisted only of the captain and a com-
panion. The vessel took a most circuitous route, up and down
all the bays and inlet? of the Atlantic coast, until her arrival
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1107
had as yet occurred illustrating the degree of excellence
attained in the art of boat-building, was the celebrated
trial of speed between the steamers" Robert E. Lee" and
" Natchez," in a race from New Orleans to St. Louis.
Perhaps no event in the whole history of steamboat-
ing on the Mississippi attracted so much attention.
For many days the press in the West was filled with
references to it, and many newspapers in the far East
esteemed it of sufficient importance to notice the
progress of the two leviathans, not only by publishing
long telegrams, but also editorially. The boats ar-
rived at St. Louis on the 4th of July, having made
an unparalleled run of more than twelve hundred
miles. It is believed that not less than two hundred
thousand persons witnessed the arrival of the " R. E.
Lee," which was the first to reach the goal.1
at New Orleans. After remaining at St. Louis a couple of days
the "Jennie Bonnie" went to St. Paul, and thence across the
grand portage to Lake Superior, through Lakes Huron, Erie,
and Ontario into the St. Lawrence, and around to the coast of
Maine to the point where she started from.
1 " Quite an excitement," says a St. Louis journal, " was created
in steamboat circles by the trials of speed between the steamers
' R. E. Lee' and ' Natchez.' For years the time of the ' J. M. White'
from New Orleans to St. Louis had stood unequaled, and among
river-men there was a desire to know if any improvement in
the building of fast, and at the same time good, business boats
had been made. While we cannot see that anything was gained
by the trial, we place the time of each boat on record for the
benefit of those interested.
1844.—' J. M. White's' run :
From New Orleans to Miles. Dnys. Hours. Min.
Natchez 300 .. 20 40
Vicksburg 410 1 5 55
Montgomery Point... 625 1 23 8
Memphis 775 2 12 8
Cairo 1000 3 6 44
St. Louis 1200 3 23 9
1870.—' Natchez' time, July, 1870 :
From New Orleans to Days. Hours. Min.
Natchez 17 52
Vicksburg 26
Head of Thresher Field 24 4
Napoleon 1 18 15
White River 1 19 30
Helena 2 2 35
Memphis 2 9 40
Head of Island No. 10 3
Hickman 3 1 43
Cairo 3 4 24
St. Louis 3 21 58
1870.—' Lee's' time, July, 1870 :
From New Orleans to Days. Hours. Min.
Carrollton
Harry's Hill....
Red Church
Bonnet Carre ...
College Point...,
Donaldsonville.
Plaquemine
Baton Rouge...
Bayou Sara
Red River
Stamps'
Briers
Ashley
Natchez
1
1
2
3
4
7
8
10
12
13
15
16
17
27J
39
38
50
59
5
25
26
56
56
51i
29
11
Steamboat Casualties. — Neither the exact num-
ber of steamboats lost nor a reasonably accurate ap-
proximation of the number of deaths resulting from
steamboat accidents on Western waters will ever be
ascertained, for until within a few years past but little
effort was made to preserve the records and statistics
of such disasters. The most reliable record of ex-
Days.
Hours.
Min.
Cole's Creek
19
21
Waterproof ,
19
53
Rooney
20
45
21
2
Grand Gulf.
22
6
Hard Times
22
18
Vicksburg
1
38
1
2
37
1
3
49
Lake Providence
1
5
47
Greenville
1
10
55
Napoleon
1
16
22
White River
1
16
56
Australia
1
19
Helena
1
23
25
2
6
9
Island No. 37
2
9
Island No. 26
2
15
30
Island No. 14 ,
2
17
23
2
19
50
Island No. 10
2
20
37
Island No. 8
... 2
21
25
. Lucas' Bend
3
, 3
1
St. Louis
3
18
14
" Not satisfied with the result of the trips to St. Louis, a race
against time was arranged for in October, from New Orleans to
Natchez, in which the ' Natchez' came out victorious.
"Time of the 'Lee' and 'Natchez' from New Orleans to
Natchez, October, 1870 :
' NATCHEZ.'
From New Orleans to H. M. S.
Carrollton 25 30
Hill's 55 45
RedChurch 1 29 45
Bonnet CarrS 2 27 30
College Point 3 29 30
Donaldsonville 4 34 15
Plaquemine „ 6 32 45
Baton Rouge 7 49 30
Bayou Sara 10 1 45
Red River 12 21 30
Stamps' , 13 23 30
Bryan's 15 26 ....
Henderson's 16 8 32
Natchez 16 51 30
'R. E. LEE.'
H. M. S.
.. 25 30
.. 54 15
1 28 15
2 22 15
3 26 15
4 28 15
7 41 15
9 53 15
12 23 ...
13 23 30
13 32 ...
16 15 40
16 59 5
"Capt. Kannon feeling confident his boat could do still better,
made one more run against time, and regained the reputation
of the ' Lee.' The time was as follows :
From New Orleans to H. M. S.
Carrollton .......................... 26 25
Harry Hill's.. ..................... 54 43
Red Church ..................... 1 29 5
Bonnet Carre ................... 2 25 5
College Point .................... 3 28 20
Convent ........................... 3 37
Donaldsonville .................. 4 30 55
Bayou Goula ..................... 5 40 28
Plaquemine ..................... 6 26 50
Baton Rouge ....... ............ 7 40 42
Bayou Sara ...................... 9 48 20
Stamps' ........................... 13 11 55
Henderson's ..................... 15 55 25
Natchez .............................. 16 36 47"
1108
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
plosions up to 1871 was made up by Capt. S. L.
Fisher and Capt. James McCord, both well-known
citizens of St. Louis and practical steamboat men.1
This record begins in the year 1816, and is as follows :
STEAMBOAT EXPLOSIONS FOB FIFTY-FIVE YEARS.
The curious revelation is made by these figures
that there have been more explosions of steam-boilers
on Western steamboats, in proportion to the number
of boats engaged in business on the rivers, since
Congress enacted laws for the regulation and guidance
of engineers on steam-vessels ; and the list of casual-
ties also shows that explosions were attended by more
fatal results after that legislation than previously
when engineers had to trust entirely to their skill
and judgment in the management of the engine and
regulating the pressure in the boilers. By contrasting
the number of casualties for a period of eighteen years
preceding the passage of the law of 1852 by Con-
gress with the number of casualties for a period of
eighteen years subsequent to the adoption of the
law, the difference can be more readily perceived.
During the first-named period twenty-seven boats
exploded their boilers, and one thousand and two
persons were killed. During a period of eighteen
years subsequent to the passage of the law fifty-four
boats met with disaster by explosion, and three thou-
sand one hundred persons were killed.
From Jan. 1 to Nov. 19, 1841, the following boats
engaged in the St. Louis trade were lost :
The Vermont sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio, valued at $5 000
Year. Name of Boat.
Number of
Lives Lost.
Year.
Name of Boat.
Number of
Lives Lost.
is 111 Wellington
9
30
20
60
29
17
9
21
50
85
100
55
7
26
25
9
23
25
6
13
30
74
53
28
14
6
150
13
100
9
19
18
8
40
60
27
20
3
15
19
40
30
5
3
14
1857
1857
1857
1857
i 1857
1858
1859
1859
1859
1860
1860
1860
1860
1861
1861
1862
1862
1862
1862
1862
1882
1863
1864
1864
1865
1865
1865
1865
1866
1866
1866
1866
1867
1868
1870
1870
1870
1870
1870
1871
1871
1871
1871
1871
12
3
20
12
8
1
70
45 .
2
8
2
23
2
4
80
150
4
1
3
1
3
4
5
1647
5
11
18
12
7
11
8
5
22
31
11
5
36
13
7
9
60
1
7
1
1817 Constitution
Kentucky
is-'") Teche
1830 i Helen McGregor..
1836 Ben Franklin
1836 Rob Roy
Cataract
Buckeye Belle
Titania
1837 Chariton
Princess
1837 Dubuque8
1837 Black Hawk
Hiawatha
is:;-. Moselle
John Calhoun
Sain Gaty
1838 Oronoco . ...
1838 Gen Brown
Ben Lewis
18.38 Augusta
H. T. Gilmore
Madonna
1839 George Collier3....
1839 Wellington
Ben Sherrod
1838 Walker
Pennsylvania
Monongahela
Com. Perry
1840 Persia
1844 Lucy Waller
1845 Elizabeth
Advance
Isro ...
1845 Marquette
Ollie Sullivan
1846 H. W. Johnston..
1847 Edward Bates
1848 Concordia . ..
Ben Levi
1849 Virginia
Nimrod
1849 Cutter
R. J. Lockwood...
W. R. Carter
1849 Louisiana
Rienzi sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 8,000
1850 St Joseph
Gen. Lytle
1850 Anglo-Norman....
1850 Kate Fleming
1850 Knoxville
Missouri
Peoria sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio . . 5000
Phantom
Cumberland
Chester sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 20 000
1S51 Oregon
Harry Dean
1852 Pocahontas
Eclipse
Homer sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 6,000
1852 Thomas Stone
1852 Glencoe
Magnolia
City of Memphis..
David White
Maid of Orleans sank between St.
Louis and the mouth of the Ohio 25,000
Oregon sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 20 000
1852 Saluda
1852 Franklin
1853 Bee
Maggie .Hays
Iberville
1854 Kate Kinney
1854 Timor
Keokuk sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 6 000
Judge Wheeler
W. R.Arthur
Rob Roy
1854 Reindeer
Wm. Paris sank between St. Louis
and the mouth of the Ohio 12,000
Raven
A. M. Phillips sank between St. Louis
and the mouth of the Ohio . 6 000
New State
1 •*.">(! Metropolis
Tohula sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 15,000
' The Fifth Annual Report of the St. Louis Chamber of Com-
merce, for 1860, has no reference to or mention of steamboat
casualties.
1 The " Dubuque,'' Capt. Smoker, was destroyed on the
Mississippi River while on her voyage from St. Louis to
Galena, Aug. 15, 1837, near Muscatine Bar, eight miles below
Bloomington. The accident was caused by the explosion of
the boiler on the larboard side, probably on account of some
defect in material or workmanship. The steamboat " Adven-
ture," arriving in a few hours after the explosion, took the
" Dubuque" in tow to Bloomington. The killed were John
Littleton, Isaac Deal, Felix Pope, Charles Kelly, Noah Owen,
Jesse Johnson, James C. Carr, George McMurtry, Francis
Pleasants, Henry A. Carr, John C. Hamilton, Joseph Brady,
John Boland, Joseph L. Sanes, L. B. Sanes, Martin Shough-
nohoy, George Clix, David Francour, and Mrs. M. Shaugh-
nessy and child.
* When the " George Collier," while on her way, May 6,
U. S. Mail sank between St. Louis and
the mouth of the Ohio 15,000
Brazil sank on the upper Mississippi 8,000
Caroline sank below mouth of Ohio 35 000
Chief Magistrate sank below mouth of
Ohio 15000
Baltic sank below mouth of Ohio 12,000
Malta sank on the Missouri 15,000
Missouri burnt at the wharf. 50,000
$290,000
1839, from New Orleans to St. Louis, was about eighty miles
below Natchez, her piston-rod gave way. The cylinder-head
was broken, and the boiler-stand carried away. The steam
escaping scalded forty-five persons, of whom twenty-six died
that day, as follows : T. J. Spalding, Ch. Brooks, William Blake,
C. Herring, Mrs. E. Welch and two children, S. O'Brien and
wife, S. J. Brogua, John Idida, D. J. Rose, D. Groe, F. Gross,
J. B. Bossuet, P. Smith, Joseph Lawrence, Charlotte Fletcher
and brother, Bilch, and six others unknown.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1109
In De Bows Review a list of disasters to steam-
boats is given which, though made from "very defec-
tive returns," has not overdrawn the picture of death,
ruin, and suffering which explosions, collisions, and
carelessness have inflicted on the people of this coun-
try who traveled on Western waters. This list in
the Review for 1849 extended back many years. It is
4. Carelessness or ignorance of those intrusted with the man-
agement of the boiler.
In this class :
Racing 1
Incompetent engineers 2
Old boilers 6
Stopping off water 1
Carelessness 22 — 32
Dates and Numbers of Explosions.
as follows :
Whole number of boats on which explosions have oc-
1816 3
1834 1
1817 4
1835 10
1819 1
1836 13
1820 . 1
1837 13
1821 1
1838 11
Officers " " 31 57
1822 1
1839 3
Crew " " 25 103
1825 2
1840 8
Whole number killed 164 1,805
1826 3
1841 . 7
" " wounded 111 1,015
1827 2
1842 7
Total amount of damages 75 $997,650
1828 1
1843 9
Average number of passengers killed in the enumer-
1829 4
1844 4
1830 12
1845 11
Average number of officers killed in the enumerated
1831 2
1846 7
1832 1
1847 12
Average number of crew killed in the enumerated
1833 5
1848 12
Date given in 177 cases ; not s
Pecuniary loss, 233 cases, at $1
Loss of life, 233 cases, at 11 ea<
Wounded, 233 cases, at 9 each.
ated in 56; total 233
Average number killed in the enumerated cases 11
Average number wounded in the enumerated cases.... 9
3,202 each $3,090,366
)h 2,563
The cause is stated in 98 cases; not stated in 125;
2097
Total killed and wounded
4660
1. Excessive pressure, gradually increased, was the
The fate of boats emplo
is traced in the Western
lows :
344 worn out or abandonee
238 snagged or otherwise s
68 burnt
yed in the Mississippi trade
Boatman for 1848, as fol-
2. The presence of unduly heated metals was the
3 Defective construction was the cause of. 33
4. Carelessness or ignorance was the cause of. 32
5. Accidental (rolling of boat) was the cause of. 1
unk 34£ "
Nature of the Accidents.
10 "
17 lost by collision
2} "
The seventeen boats which
" Washington," •' Union," "At
" Cotton Plant," " Tallyho," "
"Alabama," "Hornet," " Ka
"Huntress," " Gen. Robinson,'
Average age of boats worn
nearly.
Average age of boats sunk, bu
nearly.
Boats of which we have no
the accounts obtained.
Bull
Built in Pittsburgh distric
" Cincinnati "
" Louisville "
" Nashville "
" other places
^4
lad their boilers burst were the
as," " Caledonia," " Porpoise,"
Tricolor," " Car of Commerce,"
nawha," " Helen McGregor,"
"Arkansas," and "Teche."
out or abandoned, five yeara
rnt, or otherwise lost, four years
dates of loss are calculated by
di>ig.
t 304.
Burstin"1 steam-chests , 1
Bolt and boiler forced out 1
Blew out boiler-head 4
Not stated 38
Total 233
Classification of Causes.
1. Under pressure within the boiler, the pressure being grad-
ually increased. In this class are the cases marked "excessive
pressure."
2. Presence of unduly heated metal within the boiler. In
this class are included
221
103
19
37
Total
.. fi.<U
Deposits 2 — 16
3. Defective construction of the boiler and its appendages.
Improper or defective material:
In this class are included cast-iron
Number of Scats built in each of the following years:
1811 1 1S25 39
1812 0
1826 60
1813 1
1827 24
1814 2
1828 35
1816 5
1829 55
1817 8
1830 43
Bad workmanship :
Want of proper gauge-cocks 3
1818 31
1831 68
1819 34
1832 . .. 80
1820 9
1833 48
Detective flue 1
1821 7
1834 59
Extending wire walls 1
1822 10
1835 52
Pipe badlv constructed 1
182S 14
Tntnl fi84.
Want of step-joints on pipe 1 — 7
1824 13
Defective boiler (nature of defect not
stated) 11
The following is a compilation of the number of
boats lost up to 1850 :
Total in this class.... 33
71
1110
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
From 1810 to 1820
" 1820 to 1830
" 1830 to 1840
" 1840 to 1850
Boats whose date of loss is unknown
Total.
The tonnage of 480 of the above boats, as
ascertained by record
Tonnage, supposed
Total.
3
37
184
270
80
576
68,048
17,210
85,258
Original cost of boats lost by sinking, as as-
certained $6,348,940
Supposed original cost of 102 not accounted
for 765,000
Total original cost 7,113,940
Total depreciation while in service 3,665,890
Final loss 3,681,297
The list of boats destroyed by fire comprises 166. The orig-
inal cost of these 166 steamers was $1,010,854.
The following are some of the more noteworthy
disasters to St. Louis vessels :
In March, 1823, the "Tennessee," Capt, Camp-
bell, was lost and thirty persons drowned. In Decem-
ber of the same year the " Cincinnati," on her way
from St. Louis to New Orleans, ran on a snag below
Ste. Genevieve and sank. No lives were lost.
In the latter part of April, 1832, the " Talisman,"
lying in port at St. Louis, was burned to the water's
edge. Ou the 24th of October, 1834, the " Missouri
Belle" collided with the " Boone's Lick" and sank
almost immediately, thirty persons being drowned.
The "Shepherdess," from Cincinnati for St. Louis,
struck a snag on the 4th of January, 1844, in Ca-
hokia Bend, within three miles of Market Street
wharf, St. Louis, and sank. The disaster occurred
about eleven o'clock at night, and as most of the pas-
sengers had retired to their cabins and the boat sank
rapidly, the loss of life was very great.
On the 10th of March, 1848, the steamers "Ava-
lanche,'' "Hibernian," "John J. Hardin,"and " La-
clede," with two barges, were burned at the Levee near
the foot of Washington Street, St. Louis ; and on the
9th of May the steamers " Mail," " Missouri Mail,"
" Lightfoot," and " Mary" were burned at their
wharf in St. Louis.
The following boats were burned at St. Louis
during the year 1849, excepting at the time of the
great fire in May :
Algoran, July 29th $18,000
Dubuque, July 29th 8,000
Highlander, May 1st 14,000
Mary. July 29ih 3(1,000
Phoenix, July 29th 16,1100
Sun Francisco, July 29th 28,000
Accidents to Steamboats which were afterwards raised and re-
pa ired.
" Buena Vista," took fire at Kaskaskia landing ; cargo greatly
damaged by water ; boat saved from burning by the exertions of
her officers and crew.
"Governor Briggs," struck a wreck and sunk in backing out
from the wharf at St. Louis July 12th; afterwards raised and
repaired.
" Magnet," collapsed connection pipe and flue at St. Louis
August 8th ; afterwards repaired.
" San Francisco," exploded a boiler at St. Louis May 30th,
killing and scalding several persons; afterwards burned at the
same place on July 29th.
Twenty-three vessels were burned at the wharf in
St. Louis at the time of the great fire on May 17,
1849, as follows:
"American Eagle," Cossen, master, Keokuk and Upper Mis-
sissippi packet, valued at $14,000, total loss; insured for $3500
in Pittsburgh; no cargo.
"Alice," Kennett, master, Missouri River packet, valued at
$18,000, total loss; insured for $12,000,— $9000 in city offices,
balance Eirst; cargo valued at $1000.
" Alexander Hamilton," Hooper, master, Missouri River
packet, valued at $15,000, total loss; insured for $10,500 in
Eastern offices ; no cargo.
" Acadia," John Russell, master, Illinois River packet, val-
ued at $4000, total loss; fully insured in Eastern offices; cargo
fifty barrels molasses and sundry small lots of merchandise, val-
ued at $1000.
"Boreas, No. 3," Bernard, master, Missouri River packet,
valued at $14,500, total loss; insured for $11, 500 in city offices;
no cargo.
" Belle Isle," Smith, master, New Orleans trade, valued at
$10,000, total loss; insured for $8000 in the Columbus agency
at New Orleans and another office; no cargo.
"Eliza Stewart," 11. McKee, master, Missouri River trade,
valued at $9000, total loss; insured for nearly the full value, —
$4500 in the Nashville agency, bain nee in the city ; no cargo.
" Eudora," Ealer, master, New Orleans and St. Louis trade,
valued at $16,000, total loss; insured for $10,500, all in city
offices; no cargo.
" Edward Bates," Randolph, master, Keokuk packet, valued
at §22,500, total loss; insured for $15,000, all in city offices; no
cargo.
" Frolic" (tow-boat), Ringling, master, valued at $1500, total
loss; no insurance ; no cargo.
" General Brook" (tow-boat), Ringling, master, valued at
$1500, total lo.js; no insurance ; no cargo.
" Kit Carson," Goddin, master, Missouri river packet, valued
at $16,000, total loss; insured for $8000, if not more, in city
offices; cargo valued at $3000.
'• Mauieluke," Sinithers, master, New Orleans and St. Louis
trade, valued at $30,000, total loss; insured for $20,000,— $8000
in Louisville, $5000 in Columbus agency, $7000 in St. Louis ;
no cargo.
"Mandan," Beers, master, Missouri river trader, valued at
$14,000, total loss; insured for $10,500, all in city offices; no
cargo.
" Montauk," Legrand Morehouse, master, Upper Mississippi
trader, valued at $16,000, total loss; insured for $10,000,— $5000
here, balance in agencies; cargo valued at $8000.
" Martha," D. Finch, master, Missouri river trader, valued
at $10,000, total loss; fully insured; cargo valued at $30,000,
also insured.
" Prairie State," Baldwin, master, Illinois river packet, val-
ued at $26,000, total loss ; insured in Eastern offices for $18,000 ;
cargo valued at $3000.
'•Red Wing," Barger, master, Upper Mississippi trade, val-
ued at $6000, total loss; no insurance; cargo valued at $3000.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1111
"St. Peters," Ward, master, Upper Mississippi trade, valued
at $12,000, total loss; insured for $9000 in the Nashville and
Louisville agencies; no cargo.
" Sarah," Young, master, New Orleans and St. Louis trade,
valued sit $35,000, total loss; insured for $20,000 at Cincinnati;
cargo valued at $30,000.
" Taglioni," Marshall, master, Pittsburgh and St. Louis trade,
valued at $20,000, total loss; insured for nearly the full value
in Pittsburgh; cargo fifty tons of iron, five hundred kegs of
nails, and sundry lots of merchandise, valued at from $12,000
to $15,000.
" Timour," Miller, master, Missouri river trade, valued at
$25,000, total loss ; insured for $18,000,— $4000 in the city offices,
the balance East; cargo valued at $6000.
" White Cloud," Adams, master, New Orleans and St. Louis
trade, valued at $3000, total loss; fully insured; no cargo.
The steamboat " Andrew Jackson" was destroyed
by fire while lying at Illinoistown on Aug. 7, 1850.
She was an old boat and insured for six thousand dol-
lars. Five other boats narrowly escaped being con-
sumed. The steamboat " Governor Briggs" was dam-
aged by collision with the " Allegheny Mail," near St.
Louis, on January 13th. The " Mustang" was burned
to the water's edge at St. Louis on May 8th. She was
rebuilt, but afterwards lost by snagging in the Mis-
souri, near Brunswick, early in October. The " Ohio"
blew out a mud-valve at St. Louis on September 26th,
scalding two persons.
The bursting of the larboard boiler of the ferry-
boat "St. Louis," on the 23d of February, 1851,
caused one of those terrible disasters which have so
often shocked the public in this country. " Timbers,
large masses of machinery, brick-work, and ashes were
hurled aloft in every direction with many human
beings." There were from twenty-five to thirty per-
sons on the boat at the time of the explosion. Of
that number there were but three or four survivors.
There were thirteen bodies identified. The cor-
oner's list of dead mentions " John Walter James,
an unknown boy, Sebastian Smith, a boy called Bill,
living in Illinoistown near Pap's house, Dr. Truett,
Merriwether Smith, Robert Hardin, Alexander
McKean, William W. Benson, Isaac Cooper, Alfred
Wells, Ernest August Stuidt."
The steamer " Sultana" was destroyed by fire, with
a loss of seventy-five thousand dollars on boat and
cargo, on the 12th of June, 1851, while lying at the
foot of Mullanphy Street, St. Louis.
By the explosion of the boilers of the steamer
" Glencoe," upon her arrival at St. Louis from New
Orleans, on April 4, 1852, another great destruction
of life and property was brought about. During the
same fire the steamer " Cataract" was greatly injured,
together with wood- and wharf-boats. On the 18th
of January, 1853, the steamers "New England,"
" Brunette," and " New Lucy" were burned at the
wharf in St. Louis. The steamer "• Bluff City" was
burned, and the <; Dr. Franklin, No. 2," and " High-
land Mary" were greatly damaged by the fire from
the first, on the 27th of July, 1853, while lying at
the St. Louis Levee. The " Montauk," "Robert
Campbell," and " Lunette" were burned on the
13th of October, 1853. On Feb. 16, 1854, the
Alton packet, " Kate Kearney, No. 1," exploded
her starboard boiler just as she was starting from St.
Louis. Twenty-five persons were severely scalded.
The Rev. S. G. Gassaway, rector of St. George's
Church, St. Louis, was killed, and Mnj. Buell was
severely injured. The steamers " Twin City," "Prai-
rie City," and " Parthenia" were burned at the wharf
in St. Louis on the 7th of December, 1855. A loss
of nearly one hundred thousand dollars was caused
by the burning of the steamers " St. Clair," " Paul
Anderson," " James Stockwell," " Southerner," and
" Saranac," and the damaging of the " Monongahela,"
"Pennsylvania," and " Mattie Wayne."
The steamer " Australia" was burned on the 1st of
April, 1859, and the steamers " New Monongahela"
and "Edinburgh" at Bloody Island on the 15th of
May of the same year. A loss of two hundred thou-
sand dollars and the destruction of five steamers were
caused by the burning of the " H. D. Bacon, the " L.
L. McGill," the " Estella," the "A. McDowell," and
the " W. H. Russell," on the 27th of October, 1862.1
The steamers " Imperial," valued at sixty thousand
dollars, " Hiawatha," valued at sixty thousand dollars,
" Jesse K. Bull," valued at twenty thousand dollars,
and the " Post-Boy," valued at thirty-five thousand
dollars, were burned on the 13th of September, 1863.
The " Chancellor," " Forest Queen," and the " Cata-
houla" were burned on the 4th of October, 1863.
The steamer " Maria," having on board a portion of the
Third Iowa and Fourth Missouri Cavalry, was blown
up at Caroudelet in December, 1864.2 The " Jennie
1 The number of steamboats destroyed and damaged in 1860
was 299
The number of canai-boats destroyed and damaged in I860
was 48
The number of coal and Uat-boats destroyed and damaged
in I860 was 208
The number of steamboats totally destroyed was 120
Due to the following causes :
Sunk 11
Uunied 31
Explosion 19
Collision 24
Loss of life, 254.
* From the RepnlUcan of Dec. 12, 1864 :
" At seven o'clock Sunday morning the steamboat ' Maria,'
loaded with government troops, horses, mules, wagons, etc.,
was blown up while lying at the landing at Carondclot, and
afterwards burned to the water's edge. About six o'clock Sat-
urday evening the ' Maria," ' Lillie Martin,' and ' Ella Faber,'
Snagged and damaged 44
Damaged by storm 39
Breaking machinery 21
Collision with banks 8
1112
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Lewis," and the ferry-boat " Illinois, No. 2," were
sunk in the ice at St. Louis, Nov. 19, 1864.
The Carondelet and Marine Railway Docks, together
with the steamer " Jeanie Deans," were totally destroyed
by fire on the 12th of May, 1866. The steamers
" Ida Handy" (valued at seventy-five thousand dol-
lars), " Bostona," and " James Raymond" were burned
on the 2d of June, 1866. The steamer " Magnolia,"
valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was
burned on the 13th of June. By the fire of the 7th
of April, 1866, the steamers " Fanny Ogden" with
cargo, the " Frank Bates" and cargo, the " Nevada"
and cargo, the " Alex. Majors" with cargo, and the
" Eflfie Deans" with cargo, all together .involving a
loss of over five hundred thousand dollars, were de-
stroyed. On the 26th of February, 1866, a disas-
trous fire occurred, destroying the steamers " Le-
viathan," " Luna," " Peytona," and " Dictator," with
a loss estimated at three-quarters of a million of dol-
lars.
On December 19th the steamer " Gray Eagle" was
sunk at St. Louis. The ice-gorge of 1865-66 occa-
sioned a loss of nearly a million of dollars to the
owners of steamboats. The following was the esti-
t
having on board a considerable number of cavalry, principally
belonging to the Third Iowa and Fourth Missouri Cavalry,
left the Levee at St. Louis and dropped down to Carondelet,
about seven miles below, where they were lying when the
disaster took place, the ' Maria' between the other two. She
had on board Col. Benteen, commanding brigade, with his staff
and escort, Col. B. S. Jones, Third Iowa Cavalry, a portion of
his command and detached troops, amounting in all to about
one hundred men, besides the crew of the boat, en route for
Cairo. The explosion, by whatever means caused, threw the
forward end of the boilers apart, landing them on the deck,
without disturbing the after ends, and dashed the front of the
furnaces and a quantity of coal forward, setting fire to bales of
hay, twelve of which only were on deck, the remainder with the
oats being in the hold. At the moment the explosion took place
the floor of the cabin was burst up, and falling back precipitated
a number of soldiers down upon the boilers and burning wreck.
" When the ' Maria' left St. Louis she was in advance of the
' Ella Faber,' who had on board men recently belonging to the
Fourth Missouri Cavalry. Eight of the men of this regiment
left behind got on board the 'Maria.' Two only of those are
known to have got off unhurt. What has become of the others
is not known. Immediately after the accident occurred the
' Lillie Martin,' which had steamed up, fell down and took off
the men on board and on the after-part of the boat, and also
three ladies. In half an hour after the explosion the boat was
a mass of flame, allowing time to save nothing but the load of
human life aboard. The ' Maria' is a new boat, built at Cin-
cinnati, the trip to St. Louis being her third since built. Her
cost was thirty-five thousand dollars. She is insured at Cin-
cinnati, but for what amount we did not learn. The officers of
the ' Maria' are Capt. Alexander Montgomery ; Wesley B.
Dravo and William Dravo, clerks; Washington Couch and
Frank Ganger, engineers; Thomas Botts and Andrew Acker,
mates; Sol. Catterlin and David I'.hisli field, pilots."
mate of the total loss of steamboat-owners and under-
writers from the formation of the ice-gorge at St.
Louis in 1865 to its breaking on the 16th of De-
! cember of that year, together with the names of the
vessels sunk :
Value.
New Admiral $60,000
Old Sioux City 10,000
Empire City 20,000
Calypso (about) 30,000
Highlander 20,000
Geneva 27,000
Metropolitan (about) 18,000
Four wharf-boats (about) 15,000
Seven barges (about) 25,000
On the second breaking up, Friday,
the 12th January, 1866 :
Belle of Memphis 85,000
John Trendly (ferry-boat) 50,000
Prairie Rose 15,000
Julia lfi,000
Warsaw 35,000
Underwriter, No. 8 20,000
Omaha 12,000
Saturday, the 13th of January, the
Nebraska 20,000
City of Pekin 37,000
Hattie May 30,000
Diadem 22,000
Viola Belle 30,000
Reserve 30,000
Rosalie 45,000
Five rock-boats (about) 18,000
Memphis wharf-boat 5,000
Alton wharf-boat 2,500
Total $697,500
In the above table no amount whatever is set down
for damage done the boats that escaped being sunk.
The computations made on this subject by steamboat-
men and steamboat-builders aggregated one hundred
and forty thousand dollars, while some went as high as
one hundred and sixty thousand and one hundred and
seventy thousand dollars.
The following is a list of steamboat disasters at
or near St. Louis from 1867 to 1881, inclusive:
1867. Jan. 20, "Mexico," burned at St. Louis; total loss.
Jan. 26, " R. C. Wood," sunk opposite Carondelet.
Jan. 26, " E. H. Fairchild," sunk opposite Carondelet.
Feb. 6, "Tom Stevens," sunk near St. Louis.
Feb. 13, "AVhite Cloud," gunk at St. Louis; total loss.
June 13, "Governor Sharkey," sunk at St. Louis; total
loss.
Sept. 10, "G.W.Graham," burned at St. Louis; total los».
Sept. 10, "Yellowstone," burned at St. Louis; total loss.
Sept. 27, " Illinois," exploded at St. Louis; repaired.
1868. Feb. 4, "Anna White," sunk by ice in St. Louis
harbor; total loss. Value 812,000; partly insured.
Feb. 4, "Clara Dolsen," New Orleans packet, burned in
St. Louis: total loss. Insured for $25,000.
Feb. 22, "Kate Putnam," sunk near St. Louis; raised and
repaired. Insured for $20,000.
Feb. 29, " Paragon," sunk in Mississippi River near Cape
Girardeau; total loss. Insured for $35,000.
March 2, "M. S. Mephain," burned at St. Louis Levee.
Value $35,000 ; insured for §40,000. Total loss.
March 2, "Fannie Scott," burned at St. Louis Levee.
Damage $5000.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1113
March 2, "Kate Kinney," partially burned at St. Louis
Levee. Damage $5000 ; insured.
April 18, " George D. Palmer" (stern-wheeler), partially
burned at St. Louis Levee. Damage $5000 ; insured at Cin-
cinnati.
Dec. 18, "George McPorter," sunk in St. Louis harbor;
total loss.
1869. March 29, "Carrie V. Kountz," "Gerard B. Allen,"
"Ben Johnson," "Henry Adkins," "Jennie Lewis," and
"Fannie Scott" burned at St. Louis; loss nearly $500,000.
Oct. 28, steamer "Stonewall" burned, and a large number of
lives lost.
1870. Jan. 19, steamer " Lady Gay," one day out from St.
Louis, struck a snag near Grand Tower and was sunk. She was
built in 1865, and was valued at $50,000. She was one of the
boats of the St. Louis nnd New Orleans Packet Company, and
belonged to Capt. I. H. Jones, Theodore Laveille, and others.
She was insured for $24,000 on boat and $30,800 on cargo and
stock.
Jan. 28, collision between the tow-boat "Fisher" and ferry-
boat " East St. Louis," opposite Olive Street; damage slight.
1871. Jan. 13, tow-boat "Tiber" thrown out of the river at
the foot of Biddle Street, St. Louis, by floating ice, and totally
destroyed.
The canal propeller " Sligo" beached and destroyed by the
floating ice at the foot of Cherry Street, St. Louis.
Jan. 28, the steamer " W. R.- Arthur," bound from New Or-
leans to St. Louis, exploded her boilers on the Mississippi River
when about twenty miles above Memphis. The boat was to-
tally destroyed. By this accident about sixty lives were lost.
Feb. 28, the St. Louis and Keokuk packet "Rob Roy" met
with a serious accident when leaving St. Louis. The starboard
head of the steam-drum blew out with great force. Two state-
rooms and the mess-room were demolished. West Robinson, a
deck-hand, was killed.
March 8, great storm at St. Louis. The St. Louis and New
Orleans packet "Mollie Able," a line side-wheel steamer, lying
at the East St. Louis wharf, was caught by the tornado and
almost totally destroyed. Several other boats were injured.
1876. Feb. 12, the steamer " Rescue" caught fire at the wharf
in St. Louis and burned to the water's edge ; afterwards rebuilt..
Feb. 16, steamer "John M. Chambers" partly burned at
wharf; rebuilt.
April 8, steamer " Rob Roy" struck St. Louis bridge ; slightly
damaged. On the 25th, the propeller " Whale" struck the bridge,
and was damaged to the extent of about $2000.
Dec. 13, the ice-gorge at St. Louis gave way, carrying with it,
destroying and partially destroying, the following boats and
barges :
Steamers. Value.
Centennial $65,000
Jennie Baldwin 2,000
Bayard 3,500
Rock Island 4,000
Davenport 4,000
Alexander Mitchell 30,000
War Eagle 75,000
Andy Johnson 30,000
There was no insurance on any of the above steamers.
Steamer "Fannie Keener" was also sunk; was valued at
$5000, fully insured.
Steamer " South Shore," valued at $2500.
Steamer "Southern Belle," valued at $1500, and four barges,
valued at $4500.
1877. Sept. 19, while the steamer "Grand Republic'' was
lying in port at St. Louis she caught fire and burned to the
water's edge. She cost $300,000, and was insured for $50,200.
Six weeks previous to this disaster her owners spent $25,000 in
Loss.
$5000
2000
3500
4000
4000
5000
5000
3000
repairing her. The iron-hulled steamer " Carondelet," which
was lying alongside of the "Grand Republic," met the same
fate. She was valued at $20,000 and insured for $17,500.
The sparks from a passing steamer were the supposed cause of
the fire.
1878. March 8, steamer "Colossal" burned to the water's
edge while lying at the bank at St. Louis; loss $12,000.
March 9, the tug-boat "Baton Rouge" damaged by fire at St.
Louis.
June 8, steamer " Exchange" burned to the water's edge at
St. Louis ; loss $9000.
1879. June 11, the tug " Charles F. Nagle" struck a snag op-
posite South St. Louis and sank. She was raised.
1880. March 27, steamer " Daisy" sunk at South St. Louis;
valued at $3000.
Sept. 26, steamer "Fannie Tatum" sunk below St. Louis;
valued at $15,000 : cargo, $35,000. She was raised.
1881. March 13, steamer "James Howard" destroyed by fire
at St. Louis wharf, together with a cargo of sugar, etc., valued
at $65,000 ; boat valued at $75,000.
April 9, steamer " Victory" collided with St. Louis bridge
and sunk ; afterwards raised.
April 11, the tug "Daisy" exploded her boilers and sunk.
Two lives lost.
Steamboat-Building. — The building and repairing
of steamboats at St. Louis is an industry which
originated at a comparatively early period. In De-
cember, 1830, mention was made of the fact that the
Legislature had passed an act to incorporate the St.
Louis Marine Railway Company, which was organized
in March, 1831, with Peter Lindell, president; John
Mullanphy, D. D. Page, Thomas Biddle, and J.
Clemens, Jr., directors ; John O'Fallon, treasurer ; and
James Clemens, Jr., secretary. In 1833 there was
in existence at the upper end of the city a marine
railway under the superintendence of Thomas J.
Payne, which it had been announced in July would
be ready for work in the same year.1
In 1841 public sentiment began to be directed
towards the importance of securing the construction
at St. Louis of the steamboats that carried on her
commerce, and the newspapers of that year repeatedly
called attention to efforts being made in that direction.2
1 '• Marine Railway at St. Louis. — The proprietors have the
pleasure of informing the public that their ways have been
fairly tested, and are now ready to receive for repair steamboats
and other craft at the very low price of one hundred dollars for
all boats not exceeding one hundred tons, to lie on the ways two
days for repair without any additional charge, except the cost
of repair. Boats exceeding one hundred tons will be charged
one dollar per ton, with the privilege of lying on the ways for
repair from two to four days, according to tonnage. Boats that
shall remain on the ways longer than is herein privileged to
pay for every day exceeding the privileged number twenty per
cent, on the sum charged for drawing out.
"THOMAS J. PAYNE,
"Superintendent Marine Raihcay Company."
—Republican, July 22, 1833.
2 " A great deal has been said by the newspapers of this city
in favor of building boats at this place. The spirit has been
1114
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
In 1842 two boat-yards for the construction of vessels
were in existence, and in January, 1843, the marine
railway of Messrs. Murray & Sons, below Thomas'
mill, erected for the purpose of drawing out and re-
pairing boats, was ready for work. The structure
consisted of eight ways reaching into the bed of the
river below low-water mark. There was a cradle upon
each two ways which let down into the river, and
upon which the boat was placed, and from these, two
chains led to a beam which was propelled by a wheel
and screws, and each screw was turned by a horse,
thus combining the power of the lever and the screw.
The Reporter of Jan. 29, 1846, contained the fol-
lowing statement of steamboats built at St. Louis, of
boats built elsewhere for St. Louis, and of boats pur-
chased and brought into the St. Louis trade in 1845,
furnished by L. A. Hedges, surveyor of that port :
BOATS BUILT AT ST. Louis.
Names. Tonnage. Cost.
Governor Briggs 91 $9.000
Laclede 239 20,000
Missouri 887 45,000
Iowa 249 22,000
Dial 140 7,000
Helen 61 8,000
Prairie Bird 213 17,000
Little Dove 77 5,500
Ocean Wave 205 17.000
Convoy 750 39,000
2912 $189,500
moved, the ground has been broken, and we trust that here-
after we ^hall have no cause to complain, and that our boat-
owners will consult not only their own individual interests, but
the interests of the community also, and give to their neighbors
and customers employment in return for their custom. It
is not more gratifying to us than it will doubtless be to many
others of our citizens to learn that Cnpt. Case has opened
a boat-yard in the upper part of the city, near the site of the
old brewery. The situation is pronounced by experienced boat-
builders to be one of the best in the West. The water in
front of it is deep, and no difficulty will be experienced at any
season of the year in launching boats. Upon examination it is
ascertained that the timber is superior to any used in the West
in building boats.
"A contract has been made by Messrs. Hoffman, Alleyne &
Klein for the hull of a new boat, and for the machinery of the
' Little Red,' of three hundred and fifty tons, for the New
Orleans trade. The keel has been laid, and the frame is nearly
ready to be put up. The foundry-work will be by Messrs.
Kingsland & Lightener, and the cabin and upper works by Mr.
Lumm. The whole is under the supervision of Capt. J. C.
Shepard.
" A contract has been made for the rebuilding of a boat to be
called the ' Phoenix,' and for the machinery of the ' Missouri.'
The contract for the hull has been made with the Dry-Dock
Company, the cabin and superstructure by Messrs. Whitehill
& AVeston, the foundry-work by Messrs. Kingsland & Lightner
and her clothing and other articles of outfit by Mr. John J.
Anderson, the whole under the superintendence of Capt. John
F. Hunt."— Republican, Nov. 11, 1841.
BUILT ELSEWHERE FOR ST. Louis OWNERS.
Names. Tonnage. Cost.
Boreas, No. 2, Pittsburgh 222 $20,500
Nebraska, Pittsburgh 149 15,500
War Eagle, Cincinnati 156 14,000
Time, Louisville 109 6,500
Windsor, Louisville 196 16,000
Wiota, Eliznhethtown 219 17,000
Odd Fellow, Southland 98 7,500
Pride of the West, Cincinnati.. 371 20,000
1520 $117,000
PURCHASED FOR THE ST. Louis TRADE.
Names. Tonnage. Cost.
Falcon, of Beaver 144 86,000
Fortune, of Louisville 101 6,000
Balloon, of New Albany 154 6,000
Radnor, of Jefferson ville 163 6,000
Ceeiliii, of Pittsburgh 112 3,000
North Bend, of Pittsburgh 120 4,000
Archer, of Pittsburgh 148 9,000
Amulet, of Wheeling t... 56 2,500
Tioga, of Wheeling 171 4,000
Tributary, of Pittsburgh 149 8,000
Lehigh, of Pittsburgh 188 4,500
Cumberland Valley, of Smith-
land 168 2,000
1674 $61,000
Total addition to St. Louis
tonnage 6106
Total cost...,
$367,500
This statement is interesting, as showing the in-
crease of boat-building in St. Louis, as well as ena-
bling us to compare the cost between boats built in St.
Louis and those built elsewhere at this time.1
The Marine Railway and Floating Dock Company
in 1850 had at Carondelet a dock three hundred and
fifty feet in length and ninety-four feet in breadth,
with seven feet depth of hold. The hold was divided
into four water-tight compartments from bow to stern,
which were sub-divided by bulkhead thwartships, cut-
ting the whole into twenty-six air- and water-tight
chambers. The Mound City Marine Ways Company
was established in 1858 by Capt. William L. Hamble-
ton, and its affairs were subsequently conducted under
thenameof Hambleton Brothers.^ The business proved
very successful, a hundred new boats having been
built by the firm and more than a thousand repaired.
The building of iron hulls for steamboats has of
late years become an important industry at St. Louis.
Though several iron-plated war-vessels were con-
*It was noted in the Republican of Nov. 1, 1848, that "con-
tracts have been entered into with Messrs. Brotherton & Gordon
for the lumber to be used in the building of a ship in this city.
It is to be commenced immediately by Capt. Evans and Mr.
French, who design to make it a permanent business. The ves-
sel is to be of three hundred tons burden, and will be com-
pletely fitted and rigged here. It is to be completed by the 1st
of April, will then be loaded and proceed seaward. It is be-
lieved that sea-vessels can be built here on better terms than at
New York or on the Ohio. The timber used in their construc-
tion is of a better quality than that obtained on the Ohio, and
greatly clreaper than that which is used in New York."
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1115
structed at St. Louis during the civil war, it was
not until about the year 1874 that the building of
iron hulls took definite and positive form as a leading
industry. To Theodore Allen, more than to any other
individual, is due the credit of establishing this great
business. In 1874, Mr. Allen issued a prospectus
pointing out the advantages of iron hulls over wooden,
and pioposed the erection of the " St. Louis Iron
Ship Works," which were afterwards inaugurated
under the name of the " Western Iron Boat Building i
Company," composed of Messrs. Chouteau, Harrison,
and Vallee, well-known iron manufacturers. Of this
company Mr. Allen became superintendent. The
yards of the company at Carondelet extend for two
thousand one hundred feet along the river-front, and
back to the railroad, employing about two hundred
men. A pamphlet published by Charles P. Chou-
teau in 1878 gives a map and very complete statistics
of the products of the West, covering the statistics of
tonnage and business on Western waters, the tow-
ing and barge business, the defects of wooden and the
advantages of iron hulls.
St. Louis and St. Paul Packet Company. — This
corporation had its origin in the Keokuk Northern
Line Packet Company, which was formed by the con-
solidation of the St. Louis and Keokuk Packet Com-
pany and the Northern Line Packet Company. The
St. Louis and Keokuk Line was formed Jan. 1, 1842,
the principal members of the company being Capt.
John S. McCune and J. E. Yeatman. In October,
1842, the keel of the first boat, the " Di Vernon,"
was laid at St. Louis, and the vessel was completed at
a cost of sixteen thousand dollars and started on her
first trip to Keokuk before the close of navigation.
On the opening of the spring trade in 1843 she com-
menced running regularly, and with two other (tran-
sient) steamers formed a daily line, which continued
throughout the season. During the following winter
the company built the " Laclede," one of the best
steamboats of her day, and at the same time purchased
the " Boreas." With these vessels the daily line was
resumed in the spring of 1844, the company in the
mean time having secured the contract for carrying the
mails. During this season an opposition line with three
steamers — the " Swallow," " Anthony Wayne," and
" Edwin Bates" — was organized, and in the following
spring both lines commenced running and continued
until about midsummer, when the new line suc-
cumbed, and the " Bates," a fast and handsome boat,
was purchased by the old company. In the spring
of 1846 the "Lucy Bertram," and in the fall
of 1847 the " Kate Kearney," both new and hand-
some vessels, were added to the line. Another
" Di Vernon" was built at St. Louis in 1850 at a
cost of forty-nine thousand dollars, a sum which was
thought at the time to be very large for the construc-
tion of a steamboat. In the spring of the same year
another opposition line, with the steamers " Monon-
gahela," " New England," and " Mary Stephens," was
established. The two lines were kept up during
nearly the entire spring and summer. One boat of
each line left port daily, side by side, at the top of
its speed, burning the most expensive fuel, paying
the highest wages, and carrying freight and passen-
gers at a price so low that the entire receipts of both
would not defray one boat's wood bill. The contest
was long and severe, and lasted until late in the sum-
mer. When the two lines had sunk about fifty thou-
sand dollars, the opposition boats were withdrawn and
sold at auction, and the " New England" was pur-
chased by the old company.
The " Jeanie Deans" was built in the summer of
1852,1 and the " New Lucy" in the fall of the same
year. The " New Lucy" was burned at her wharf at
St. Louis about six weeks after being finished. Dur-
ing the summer of 1853 the " Westerner" was built,
and subsequently another " Kate Kearney." There
were also added to the line from time to time the
" Sam Gaty," " Keokuk," and " Quincy," built at
St. Louis, and the u Ben Campbell,'' <; Prairie State,"
" J. McKee," " Glaucus," " Regulator," " Jenny
Lind," « Conewago," " York State," " Winchester,"
" Thomas Swann," and others obtained by purchase.
1 The commander of the "Jeanie Deans" was Capt. J. W.
Malin. Capt. Malin was born in October, 1818, at Vevay,
Switzerland Co., Ind. In 1832 he commenced his career as a
river pilot in the flat-boat business, between Madison and Cin-
cinnati, and a few years later began running a packet between
Cincinnati and St. Louis, commanding at different times in that
trade the "John Drennan," the " Mary Stevens," the "Royal
Arch," the " Hamburgh," and the "Statesman." He nest en-
gaged in the Minnesota trade, and was afterwards connected
for ten years with the Keokuk Packet Line, commanding at
first the "Jeanie Deans," with which he remained until the
building of the " Warsaw," which he commanded until that
vessel became unfit for further use. In 1868 he engaged with
Capt. Scudder in the commission business in St. Louis, the firm
being Malin & Scudder, but subsequently returned to his old
occupation and commanded vessels in the Star and Anchor
Lines. Capt. Malin had purchased in 1868 an* interest, with
Capt. Brolaski, in the Laclede Hotel, and in 1870, having bought
his partner's share, he associated his son, Walter A. Malin, with
him and assumed the management of the hotel. In 1871 the
erection of an extensive addition to the hotel was commenced
by Dr. Bircher, and completed in August, 1873, at which time
Malin & Son took possession and united the two under the name
of the Laclede-Bircher Hotel. The latter portion of the title,
however, was seldom used, and the hotel was popularly known
simply as the Laclede. Capt. Malin died at the Hot Springs,
Ark., in September, 1874.
1116
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
In 1857 the company established the Quincy line,
making one freight and passenger line between St.
Louis and Quincy, and one mail and passenger line
between St. Louis and Keokuk. They were arranged
as follows :
Quincy Packets. — "Keokuk," Bradley, master;
"Sam Gaty," Richardson, master; "Quincy," Ford,
master.
Keokuk Mail Packets. — " Jeanie Deans," Malin,
master ; " Di Vernon," Sheble, master ; " Thos.
Swann," Johnson, master.
About 1871 the line was consolidated with the North-
ern Line Packet Company. In the winter of 1857—
58 a number of the captains of steamboats plying be-
tween St. Louis and St. Paul determined to form a
new line and make regular trips, leaving on stated
days in the week. On the opening of navigation in
the following spring this line consisted of the steam-
ers " Canada," Capt. James Ward; " W. L. Ewing,"
Capt. W. Green ; " Denmark," Capt. R. C. Gray ;
"Metropolitan," Capt. Thomas B. Rhodes; "Minne-
sota Belle," Capt. Thomas B. Hill ; and " Pembina,"
Capt. Thomas H. Griffith. Messrs. Warden & Shaler
.were appointed agents, and the line was known as the
Northern Line. In 1859 the " Chippewa," Capt.
W. H. Crapeta ; " Dew Drop," Capt. N. W. Parker ;
" Lucie May," Capt. J. B. Rhodes ; " Aunt Letty,"
Capt. C. G. Morrison ; " Northerner," Capt. P. A.
Alford, and the " Laclede" were added.
In the winter of 1859-60 the owners of the differ-
ent vessels decided to form a joint-stock company, and
organized under the name of the Northern Line
Packet Company. The incorporators and directors
were D. Hawkins, Thomas Gordon, and J. W. Parker,
of Galena, 111. ; John B. Rhodes, of Savannah, 111. ;
R. C. Gray, of Pittsburgh, Pa. ; and James Ward
and Thomas H. Griffith, of St. Louis. Mo. Capt.
James Ward was elected president, and Thomas H.
Griffith secretary and treasurer. The vessels owned
by the company were the " Sucker State," " Hawk-
Eye State," " Canada," " Pembina," " Metropolitan,"
" Northerner," " W. L. Ewing," " Denmark," " Henry
Clay," " Minnesota Belle," and " Fred. Lorenz."
In 1864, Capt. William F. Davidson, who had been
managing a line of steamboats on the upper Missis-
sippi, established a service between Dubuque and St.
Paul, and subsequently, having purchased the prop-
erty of the Galena Packet Company, established the
Northwestern Union Packet Company. In 1868 the
Northern Line Packet Company admitted the boats of
the Northwestern Company into their line, and in the
following year the vessels were running under the
direction of the Northern Company. In 1871 the
steamers of the two companies plying between St.
Louis and northern points were : Northern Line, " Lake
Superior," " Red Wing," ;' Dubuque," " Minnesota,"
" Davenport," " Muscatine," " Pembina," " Savannah,"
"Sucker State," and " Minnesota;" Northwestern Linei
"North western, v "S.S.Merrill," "Belleof LaCrosse,"
"Alexander Mitchell," " Victory," " City of Quincy,"
" Molly McPike," and " Phil Sheridan." Up to 1871
the Northern Line had lost but three boats, — the " Den-
mark," sunk at Atlas Island by striking a log ; the
" Northerner," burned at the St. Louis Levee ; and the
" Burlington," sunk at Wabasha. The officers in
1870 were Thomas B. Rhodes, president ; Thomas H.
Griffith, secretary ; Thomas J. Buford, superintend-
ent; and I. M. Mason, general freight agent. The
total number of tons of freight deposited by the
steamers of the company during the year at St. Louis
was seven hundred and sixty-four thousand three
hundred and seven.
The Keokuk Packet and the Northern Line Packet
Companies were competitors for the same trade, and
the rivalry between them became so close and ener-
getic that each suffered heavily, and it was finally de-
cided to form a new company which should embrace
them both. Accordingly a new corporation was or-
ganized, with the name of the Keokuk Northern Line
Packet Company, the capital stock of which was
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the
property of the competing lines was purchased. The
first president was Capt. John S. McCune, who man-
aged its affairs with marked ability until his death.
He was succeeded by Darius Hawkins, who was the
nominal head of the company during a period of
legal difficulties until 1875, when Capt. William F.
Davidson was elected president. In 1879-80 the
company owned the following steamboats :
Tons.
Northwestern 802.06
Rob Roy 967.00
Red Wing 670.43
War Eagle 953.74
Charlie Uheever 313.67
Barges, forty - eight
in number 13,242.49
Total tonnage... 21,391.16
The officers in 1879 were William F. Davidson,
president ; Francis Johnston, secretary ; John Baker,
agent ; James A. Lyon, general passenger agent.
The St. Louis and St. Paul Packet Company, the
successor of the Keokuk Northern, was organized in
June, 1881, with a capital stock of one hundred thou-
sand dollars, the incorporators being W. F. Davidson,
R. M. Hutchinson, and F. L. Johnston. The com-
pany transacts a general passenger and freight business
between St. Paul and St. Louis, and owns the following
Tons.
Alexander Mitchell 512.09
Belle of La Crosse...... 476.69
Clinton 909.22
Daniel Hine 100.61
Damsil 210.71
Golden Eiigle 941.50
G. H. Wilson 159.06
Minneapolis 649.62
Minnesota..., .. 482.27
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1117
boats : " Gem City," " War Eagle," " Alexander
Mitchell," " Minneapolis," " Northwestern," " Belle of
La Crosse," and " Centennial." The officers in 1882
were W. F. Davidson, president ; R. M. Hutchinson,
superintendent ; and P. S. Johnston, secretary. The
general offices are located at Dubuque, Iowa.
William F. Davidson, successively president of the
Keokuk Northern and St. Louis and St. Paul compa-
nies, is one of the leading steamboat proprietors of the
West. He was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, on the
4th of February, 1825. His father being a boatman,
Capt. Davidson was educated from his earliest boy-
hood in the navigation of Western waters. When
only twenty years of age he was captain of the
steamer " Gondola" on the Ohio River, and in
1856 established a line of three steamers on the
upper Mississippi. He also engaged in the same
business in 1857-58 on the Minnesota River, and
subsequently established a line between La Crosse and
St. Paul, and in 1864 a line from Dubuque to St.
Paul. He then purchased the Galena Packet Com-
pany's property and franchises and organized the
Northwestern Union Packet Company, which was af-
terwards consolidated with the Northern Line, which
in turn was absorbed by the Keokuk Northern. After
the death of Capt. J. S. McCune, president of the
latter corporation, Capt. Davidson was elected his suc-
cessor, and is now president of the St. Louis and St.
Paul Packet Company. Capt. Davidson has thus had
a varied but uniformly successful career as a steamboat
manager, and his company, under his energetic but
wise and prudent administration, is now in a flourish-
ing condition. Capt. Davidson was married in 1859
to Miss Sarah A. Johnson, daughter of Judge John-
son, of Lawrence County, Ohio.
The St. Louis and St. Paul Passenger Freight
Line was incorporated in December, 1880, under the
laws of Wisconsin, with the following board of direc-
tors : P. L. Davidson, S. F. Clinton, and Lafayette
Holmes. The company transacts a general passenger
and freight transportation business on the Mississippi
River, between St. Louis and St. Paul, and owns the
following steamboats: " Grand Pacific," '-Arkansas,"
" Flying Eagle," " Alexander Kendall," " White
Eagle," and " Alfred Todd." The officers for 1882
were P. L. Davidson, president ; S. F. Clinton, vice-
president ; and Lafayette Holmes, secretary. The gen-
eral offices are located in La Crosse, Wis.
The Diamond Jo Line was established in 1867
by Joseph Reynolds. It started in a small way, with
only one boat, which was employed by Mr. Reynolds
in the produce trade on the upper Mississippi, with
headquarters at Dubuque, Iowa. The business in-
creased with every succeeding year until, in 1882,
there were five elegant steamers running on the line
between St. Louis and St. Paul. The boats are the
" Mary Morton," " Libbie Conger," " Diamond Jo,"
" Josephine," and " Josie," all of which are equipped
with the latest and most improved machinery and life-
saving apparatus. The officers in 1882 were Joseph
Reynolds, general manager, and E. M. Dickey, gen-
eral freight agent. The general office is at Dubuque,
Iowa.
The St. Louis and Vicksburg Packet Company
was organized and chartered in 1859, as the Memphis
and St. Louis Packet Company, by John A. Scudder,
Daniel Able, Wm. J. Lewis, Wm. C. Postal, and R.
L. McGce. The Memphis Line commenced with the
steamers " Ben Lewis," " J. H. Dickey," and " Platte
Valley," which were followed in turn by the " John
D. Perry," " Rowena," " C. E. Hillman," " Colorado,"
"St. Joseph," "Mary E. Forsyth," "Southerner,"
" Courier," " Robb," " Adam Jacobs," " City of
Alton," "Luminary," " Julia," " G. W. Graham,"
"Belle of Memphis, No. 1," "Belle of St. Louis,"
" City of Cairo," " City of Vicksburg," " Grand
Tower," " Belle of Memphis, No. 2," and the " City
of Chester."
During the first eleven years but one serious acci-
dent occurred, the explosion of the " Ben Lewis," at
Cairo. The " Belle of Memphis, No. 1," was lost in
the ice at St. Louis, and the " G. W. Graham" was
burned at the Levee, but in neither instance were any
lives lost. The first president of the company was
Capt. Daniel Able, whose life had been identified with
river interests from boyhood, and who managed the
line with maiked ability. He was succeeded by W.
G. Lewis, who in turn was followed by John J. Roe,
under whose administration the business of the com-
pany was greatly increased and extended. A regular
line of packets between St. Louis and Vicksburg was
established, and the construction of a number of new
steamboats was contracted for. On the death of Mr.
Roe, Capt. Henry W. Smith, who had long been
identified with the company as general superintendent,
was elected president.1
1 Henry W. Smith was born in Connecticut, and about 1845
removed to Missouri, settling at Glasgow, where he engaged in
mercantile pursuits. While thus occupied he was chosen a
member of the State Legislature, and served with ability and
zeal. In 1850 he abandoned his business at Glasgow to engage
in steamboat enterprises, and commenced his career on the river
as clerk on the " General Lane." He afterwards commanded and
owned steamers of the same line. In 1855 he was made in-
spector of hulls for the board of underwriters, but upon the
formation of the Memphis Packet Line he was called into ac-
tive service again, and, as general superintendent, and subse-
1118
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
Capt. Smith died in March, 1870, and was suc-
ceeded in the presidency of the company by John A.
Scudder.
In 1879 the steamboats belonging to the company
were the
Tons.
Belle of Memphis 919.67
Colorado 632.87
Tons.
John B. Maude 922.04
Ste. Genevieve 790.20
City of Vicksburg 1058.28 City of Greenville 1438.06
City of Helena 1058.28
Emma C. Elliott 660.16 Total 8537.84
Grand Tower 1058.28'
The officers in 1879 were John A. Scudder, presi-
dent ; Theodore Zeigler, secretary ; John P. Reiser,
superintendent ; and William B. Russell, agent. In
that year a reorganization of the company was effected,
and its name was changed to the St. Louis and Vicks-
burg Packet Company, and the line is now known as
the St. Louis and Vicksburg Anchor Line.
The company owns the following steamers, which
ply between St. Louis and Memphis and Vicksburg :
" Ctyy of Providence," " Gold Dust," " City of Green-
ville," " Belle of Memphis," " City of Cairo," " City
of Vicksburg," " Arkansas City," " James B. Maude,"
" City of Helena," " Ste. Genevieve," " E. C. Elliott,"
and " Colorado." The general office is located on the
company's wharf-boat at the foot of Locust Street, and
the officers in 1882 were John A. Scudder, president
and general manager ; Directors, John A. Scudder, G.
B. Allen, J. P. Reiser, and T. C. Zeigler. The capital
stock is five hundred thousand dollars.
The New Orleans Anchor Line was organized in
June, 1878, and incorporated during the same month
with a capital stock of three hundred thousand dol-
lars, the ^corporators being John A. Scudder, James
P. Reiser, G. B. Allen, William J. Lewis, and T. C.
Zeigler. John A. Scudder was elected president, and
has retained that position ever since. The company
transacts a general passenger and freight transporta-
tion business on the Mississippi River between St.
Louis and New Orleans, the steamers employed being
the " City of New Orleans," " City of Alton," " City
of Baton Rouge," "John A. Scudder," " W. P.
Holliday," and " Commonwealth." This company
does its own insurance, and during its existence has
lost five boats by fire.
John A, Scudder, president of the St. Louis and
Vicksburg Anchor Line and New Orleans Anchor
Line, has long been identified with steamboat inter-
ests on the Mississippi. He was born at Maysville,
quently president, of that company he became widely known
upon the Western waters. At the time of his death Capt. Smith
was also president of the Wrecking Company, and of a build-
ing association, besides being engaged in a large lumber busi-
ness in East St. Louis and other mercantile enterprises.
Mason Co., Ry., on the 12th of June, 1830. His
father, Dr. Charles Scudder, was a native of New
Jersey, and his mother, Mary H. Scudder, was a
native of Virginia. Capt. Scudder removed to St.
Louis at an early age, and soon became actively iden-
tified with steamboat interests on the Mississippi
River. Before he was thirty years old he had already
become quite prominent in the business, and assisted,
as one of the incorporates, in the organization of the
Memphis and St. Louis Packet Company, of which,
as already stated, he became the president in 1870.
Capt. Scudder at once addressed himself to the task
of consolidating and harmonizing the steamboat in-
terests on the lower Mississippi, and succeeded in
greatly expanding the operations of the wealthy and
powerful corporation of which he had become the
head. Associated with him were Gerard B. Allen,
John J. Roe, Edgar and Henry Ames, and other
wealthy citizens of St. Louis, who ably seconded his
shrewd and energetic administration of the com-
pany's affairs. To Capt. Scudder's tact and good
management it was mainly due that the corporation
passed unscathed through the turmoils and dangers of
the civil war, for although he had not then been
chosen its chief executive officer, his wise and prudent
counsels were always heeded, and served to guide the
company safely over many a shoal and rock.
In 1869 the Memphis Packet Company purchased
the line running to Vicksburg, and extended its ser-
vice to that point, running three boats a week to
both Vicksburg and Memphis. In 1874, at his sug-
gestion, the company adopted the trade-mark or emblem
of an anchor, and from this the appellation " Anchor
Line" was adopted. Capt. Scudder was the first to
introduce on the Western rivers the restaurant plan,
now so much favored, and every improvement calculated
to promote the convenience and comfort of patrons he
has always been the first to adopt. In 1877 he was
elected president of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange,
and in 1878 he orgnaized the New Orleans Anchor
Line, with semi-weekly trips. In 1879 the charter of
the Memphis and St. Louis Packet Company ex-
pired, and, as heretofore stated, the company was re-
organized under the title of the St. Louis and Vicks-
burg Anchor Line. As the chief executive of both
these companies, Capt. Scudder continues to lead a
life of unceasing activity. His thorough familiarity
with the whole subject of river navigation renders
him an accepted authority among steamboat men, and
there is probably no other individual engaged in the
business of Western transportation who has been
more uniformly successful, or who has contributed
more largely to the development of the trade of the
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1119
Mississippi and its tributaries. Although he has
succeeded in amassing a large fortune, Capt. Scudder
is as regular and punctual in the discharge of his
official duties now as he was at the outset of his career.
Nothing that concerns the interests of his companies
escapes his vigilant eyes, and no detail is too insig-
nificant to demand his attention. His policy is char-
acterized by a happy combination of liberality, bold-
ness, and prudence, and the corporations under his
charge are models of enterprising and, at the same
time, conservative and judicious management. He
possesses in a rare degree not only the capacity to
plan, but the ability to execute, and, as we have indi-
cated, is always in the van, not merely in adopting,
but in devising improvements in methods of trans-
portation. Personally he is as modest and unassum-
ing as he is public-spirited and generous in his deal-
ings with his fellow-men. For many years he has
been thoroughly identified with the interests of the
city which early in life he made his home, and to-day
he is one of the most highly honored and influential
citizens of St. Louis. He was married in June, 1852,
to Miss Mary A. White, and a few years since Mrs.
Scudder was made the recipient from unknown donors
of a handsome portrait of her husband executed by
Major Conant. The portrait was presented " as a tes-
timonial in recognition of his services and enterprise
in building up the commerce of the city and the
Mississippi valley" by leading citizens of St. Louis,
whose names were withheld, who " admired him as a
man of spirit, thrift, sagacity, and large views," and
who " appreciated the work he had accomplished in
perfecting and extending river transportation facilities."
The St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Trans-
portation Company was originally the Mississippi
Valley Transportation Company. The latter corpo-
ration was organized in the early part of 1866, and the
first president was Capt. Barton Able. The first tow
of barges left St. Louis for New Orleans on the 1st
of April, 1866. In the following year, Capt. George
H. Rea was elected president. Capt. Rea was born
in Massachusetts April 26, 1816. He served an
apprenticeship at the trade of tanning, and subse-
quently removed to Waynesboro', Tenn., where he
built up a remunerative trade in hides and leather.
Shortly before the breaking out of the civil war he
removed to St. Louis, where he established a hide
and leather store. He soon became prominent among
the business men of St. Louis, and assisted in the
establishment of the Second National Bank. In
1866 he was elected a member of the State Legisla-
ture from the Thirty-fourth Senatorial District of I
Missouri, and as chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee and in other capacities proved an active
and useful member. Capt. Rea became largely inter-
ested in Western transportation enterprises. He was
at one time a director of the Missouri Pacific Rail-
road Company, and built the branch of that road
from Pleasant Hill to Lawrence, Kan. He was a
stockholder in various railway and water transporta-
tion companies, and in 1867, as stated, was elected
president of the Mississippi Valley Transportation
Company, whose affairs he managed with great en-
ergy and success. During Capt. Rea's administration
the other officers of the company were Henry C.
Haarstick, vice-president and superintendent; A. R.
Moore, secretary ; William F. Haines, general freight
agent; John A. Stevenson, agent at New Orleans;
R. L. Williams, agent at New York.
The following steamboats were owned by the com-
pany in 1879:
Tow-boat
Future City"
Grand Lake, No. 2"
John Gilmore"
John Dippold"
My Choice"
PortEads"....
Tons.
589.30
377.49
503.09
554.97
462.23
334.38
Barges, forty-three 47,524.23
Total tonnage 50,345.69
In 1880 the St. Louis and New Orleans Trans-
portation Company was chartered, but on the 10th of
September, 1881, it was consolidated with the Missis-
sippi Valley corporation under the name of the St.
Louis and Mississippi Valley Transportation Com-
pany, which was incorporated with a capital stock
of two million dollars, the incorporators being
George H. Rea, Henry C. Haarstick, George D.
Capen, Austin R. Moore, R. S. Hays, H. M. Hoxie,
Henry Lowrey, A. A. Talmage, and John C. Gault.
The company owns twelve steam tow-boats and one
hundred barges, which are bonded for all export and
import business. Its trade is largely in wheat, corn,
and oats, and in the transportation of these cereals it
probably transacts a larger business than any similar
corporation in the world. The officers in 1882 were
Henry C. Haarstick, president; H. Lowrey, vice-
president; H. P. Wyman, secretary; and A. R.
Moore, treasurer ; Directors, George H. Rea, Henry
C. Haarstick, George D. Capen, Austin R. Moore, R.
S. Hays. H. M. Hoxie, Henry Lowrey, A. A. Tal-
mage, and John C. Gault. The office is located on
the company's wharf boat at the foot of Elm Street.
The St. Louis and New Orleans Packet Com-
pany was organized in May, 1869, and was the suc-
cessor of the Atlantic and Mississippi Steamship
Company. The first president was Capt. John N.
Bofinger. the first secretary Walker R. Carter, and
1120
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the first general superintendent John W. Carroll.
In 1870 the executive officers remained the same,
and the directors were John N. Bofinger, D. R.
Powell, Walker R. Carter, John W. Carroll, and
Theodore Laveille. At that time the steamers be-
longing to the company, which were then among the
largest and finest in Western waters, were the " Olive
Branch," "Pauline Carroll," "Richmond," "Dexter,"
" Mollie Able," " Thompson Dean," " Common-
wealth," " W. R. Arthur," " Bismarck," " Great
Republic," and " Continental." In 1871 the follow-
ing steamers were added : " City of Alton," " Belle
Lee," "Natchez," "Belfast," "Carrie V. Kountz,"
" Rubicon," " Capital City," " Henry Ames," " C. B.
Church," " Glencoe," " Andy Johnson," " John
Kyle," "Mollie Ebert," "Lady Lee," " Oceanus,"
"Shannon," "Virginia," "Susie Silver," "Tom
Jasper," " James Howard," " City of Quincy," " S.
S. Merrill." The total amount of freight carried in
1871 was one hundred and seventy- three thousand
nine hundred tons.
Capt. John N. Bofinger, first president of the St.
Louis and New Orleans Packet Company, was born
in Lancaster County, Pa., Oct. 30, 1825, and in 1835
removed with his parents to Cincinnati, where his
father established the first German paper west of
Pittsburgh, the Cincinnati Volksblatt, which became
a flourishing journal and existed many years. The
boy was educated at the public schools of Cincinnati,
and in 1846 obtained a position as clerk on the mail
line steamers plying between Cincinnati and Louis-
ville. In April, 1848, he arrived in St. Louis as
clerk of the steamer " Atlantic," on which he remained
as clerk and captain for six years. In 1854, in con-
nection with John J. Roe and Rhodes, Pegram &
Co., he purchased the steamer " L. M. Kennett," and
in 1857 built the steamer " William M. Morrison,"
which, when the war broke out, was the last boat to
leave St. Louis for New Orleans. The " Morrison"
was detained by the Confederate authorities at Mem-
phis, May 28, 1861, and was burned at New Orleans
by the Confederates on the arrival of Farragut's fleet.
For thirteen years preceding the war, Capt. Bo-
finger commanded steamers running between St. Louis
and New Orleans, and enjoyed the reputation of being
an unusually successful captain. During that period he
made one hundred and ninety-two trips between the
two cities, and never met with an accident that oc-
casioned the loss of a life.
The war provided a new theatre for the display of
Capt. Bofinger's abilities as an organizer and com-
mander. He became interested in nearly all the con- i
tracts let by the United States government for the '
transportation of troops and supplies on the Missis-
sippi and its tributaries during 1861, '62, '63, '64,
'65, '66, and '67, and during that time owned thirty
steamers. He was no doubt the largest vessel-owner
in the world. An instance of the magnitude of his
operations and the extent of the trust reposed in his
capacity to conduct them successfully is afforded by
the fact that he was chosen by Gen. L. B. Parsons,
A.Q.M.G., m 1862 to proceed to Memphis and Helena
for the purpose of embarking the troops and animals
of Gen. Sherman's army destined for Vicksburg.
The number of steamers engaged in this service was
ninety-five, — three boats were laden with munitions of
war, four with commissary and quartermaster's stores,
and the remainder with the army of nearly thirty-five
thousand men and their animals, etc. This vast fleet
was escorted by eleven gunboats under the command
of Admiral Porter.
After the war Capt. Bofinger with others formed
the Atlantic and Mississippi Steamship Company, with
a capital of over two million dollars, and owning
twenty-five of the largest steamboats then on the
river, and was elected superintendent of the company.
In 1867 he severed his connection with this com-
pany and established the Vicksburg Mail Line, and
after two years of successful operations, sold his in-
terest to the Memphis and St. Louis Packet Company,
now the Vicksburg Anchor Line.
In 1869 the Atlantic and Mississippi Steamship
Company sold its steamers, and Capt. Bofinger and
others formed the St. Louis and New Orleans Packet
Company, of which he was elected president, serving
in that capacity until 1873, when he retired from the
company.
In 1869-70, Capt. Bofinger held a contract with
the government to transport troops and supplies be-
tween St. Louis and Fort Benton, over three thou-
sand miles ; between St. Louis and New Orleans,
twelve hundred miles ; and between St. Louis and
Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas River, fifteen hundred
miles ; an aggregate of five thousand seven hundred
miles. This was the longest river transportation con-
tract ever held by any one person.
During the past few years Capt. Bofinger has en-
gaged somewhat extensively in steamboat-building,
one vessel of iron, the " Gouldsboro'," being a trans-
fer steamer at New Orleans ; and he is now construct-
ing a large steamer for the Memphis and Kansas
City Railroad. In connection with his brother he has
established the Telephone Company in Louisiana and
Mississippi, which they own and operate.
Capt. Bofinger's wife was Miss Mary E. Shewell,
of St. Louis.
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVEKSITV OF HUNOiS.
NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
1121
Capt. Bofinger is regarded as authority on all
matters connected with river transportation, especially
on the Mississippi and its tributaries, and congressional
committees and other bodies desiring information have
availed themselves freely of his knowledge, attained
through nearly forty years of varied and arduous ex-
perience. He may be classed with the foremost of
the second generation of Mississippi steamboat cap-
tains, and is a worthy successor of such men as the
gallant Shreve and others who were pioneers in this
calling. While Capt. Bofinger has contributed his
full share towards making river transportation an im-
portant factor in the commerce of the country, his
work is not yet ended, and those who know his in-
domitable energy do not hesitate to predict that he
will again be heard from in connection with works of
great magnitude and of equally conspicuous public j
utility.
The Merchants' Southern Line Packet Com- :
pany was established in 1870, and its steamers plied ,
between St. Louis and New Orleans, connecting at
Columbus with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, at
Memphis with the Mississippi and Tennessee Rail-
road and Memphis and Charleston Railroad, at New j
Orleans with the Morgan Line steamships for Mobile.
Galveston, and Indianola, also at the same port with
steamships for Havana, at the mouth of Red River
with Red and Ouachita River packets, and at Hick-
man, Ky., with the Northwestern Railroad for Nash-
ville and points in Middle and East Tennessee and
Northern Georgia.
The officers of the company in 1870 were J. F.
Baker, president ; B. R. Pegram, vice-president ;
Thomas Morrison, secretary ; Charles Scudder, super-
intendent; David H. Silver, general agent, and the
principal steamers were the " James Howard," B. R.
Pegram, captain ; " Henry C. Yeager," I. C. Van
Hook, captain ; " Susie Silver." Samuel S. Entriken,
captain ; " T. L. McGill," Thomas W. Shields, cap-
tain ; " Carrie V. Kountz;'1 " Henry Ames," J. West
Jacobs, captain ; " John Kyle," John B. Weaver,
captain ; " Mollie Moore," George D. Moore, captain.
The Kansas City Packet Company (Star Line)
is the successor of the Missouri Packet Company,
which originated with the Star Line Packet and Mi-
ami Packet Companies. The Star Line was absorbed
by the Miami, which then became known as the Miami
"Star Line" Packet Company. In 1869 this corpo-
ration had five steamers plying between St. Louis and
Kansas City. The officers at that time were Capt. E.
W. Gould, president ; Capt. W. W. Ater, secretary ;
and Capt. M. Hillard, general freight agent, and the
steamers were the " Mountaineer," M. H. Crapster,
captain ; " W. J. Lewis," R. J. Whitledge, captain ;
" W. B. Dance," N. F. Constance, captain ; " Clara,"
John Abrams, captain ; " Post-Boy, " S. Ball, captain.
The " E. La Barge," " M. McDonald," « Nile," and
" Viola Belle" were also run under direction of the
company. Early in 1871 the stockholders of the
Star and Miami Lines formed a new line, and or-
ganized under the name of the Missouri River
Packet Company, with W. J. Lewis as president ;
Joseph Kinney, vice-president ; E. W. Gould, super-
intendent ; William W. Ater, secretary ; and M.
Hillard, general freight agent. During 1871 the
company built three new boats, the " Capitol City,"
" Fannie Lewis," and " Joseph Kinney." Besides
the regular trips to Kansas City, the steamers of the
company during 1871 made twenty-one trips to Mem-
phis and Helena.
The Kansas City Packet Company was organized
July 15, 1878, with a capital stock of fifty thousand
dollars, the incorporators being W. J. Lewis, C. S.
Rogers, E. W. Gould, N. Springer, and R. J. Whit-
ledge. The company transacts a general passenger
and freight business on the Missouri and Mississippi
Rivers between St. Louis and Fort Benton, and owns
the steamers " Joe Kinney," " Fannie Lewis,"
" Mattie Bell," and " D. R. Powell," together with
four barges. The officers of the company in 1882
were E. W. Gould, president ; C. S. Rogers, vice-
president ; and R. J. Whitledge, secretary ; Directors,
C. S. Rogers, W. J. Lewis, E. W. Gould, N. Sprin-
ger, and R. J. Whitledge. The office is located on
the wharf-boat at the foot of Olive Street.
E. W. Gould, president of the Kansas City Packet
Company, was born in Massachusetts on the 15th of
December, 1811. He served an apprenticeship at the
trade of carriage- making, and in 1835 went West and
worked for two years at his trade in St. Louis. He
then purchased an interest in the steamer" Friendship,"
which was engaged in the Illinois River trade, and
subsequently became clerk of a steamer on the upper
Mississippi. In 1837 he was made captain of the
steamer " Knickerbocker," which was lost at the mouth
of the Ohio two years later. Subsequently Capt. Gould
became engaged in the Missouri River trade, and was
successively president of the Miami Star Line and
superintendent of the Missouri River Packet Com-
pany. Upon the organization of the Kansas City
Packet Company he became its president. Capt.
Gould is an experienced and able steamboat manager,
and the affairs of the corporation over which he pre-
sides are conducted with conspicuous skill and success.
In 1846 he was married to Miss Chipley, daughter of
Dr. William B. Chipley, at Warsaw, 111.
1122
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
The "K" Line of Packets, designed to ply be-
tween St. Louis and Miami and intermediate points
on the Missouri River, began business early in 1870
with the "St. Luke," Judd Cartwright, captain.
The line was managed by Capt. Joseph Kinney, as-
sisted by J. S. Nanson as superintendent, and H. F.
Driller, general agent. Subsequently the " Alice"
was added, and a flourishing business was transacted
by the two steamers.
The St. Louis and Omaha Packet Company was
organized in 1867, the first president being Joseph S.
Nanson, and the first secretary Joseph McEntire, both
of whom were experienced steamboat-men. During
the second year of the company's existence Capt. John
B. Weaver1 was elected president, and served in that
capacity for two years.
The steamers of the line were the " T. L. McGill,"
T. W. Shields, captain ; " Silver Bow," T. W. Rea,
captain ; " Mary McDonald," J. Greenough, captain ;
« Cornelia," L. T. Belt, captain ; " Columbian," Wil-
liam Barnes, captain ; " Glasgow," W. P. Lamothe,
captain ; " Kate Kinney," J. P. McKinney, captain ;
" H. S. Turner," J. A. Yore, captain.
The Coulson Line of Steamers, plying between
St. Louis and Fort Benton, was organized in 1878.
The officers in 1882 were S. P. Coulson, president;
W. S. Evans, vice-president ; and D. W. Marratta,
secretary and general superintendent. The company
owns and controls the following steamers : " Rosebud,"
" Big Horn," " Josephine," and " Dacotah." Jen-
kins & Sass are the agents at St. Louis.
The Naples Packet Company was organized in
1848, and was chartered Aug. 12, 1872, with the
following i n corporators : C. S. Rogers, E. W. Gould,
J. W. Mortimer, and Samuel Rider. The capital
stock is sixty-four thousand dollars, and the company
transacts a passenger and freight transportation busi-
ness between St. Louis and Peoria, 111. It owns the
handsome steamer " Calhoun," which makes all way
landings on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers between
the terminal points. C. S. Rogers was elected presi-
dent first in 1872, and has retained the position ever
since. John W. Mortimer is the secretary, and the
directors are C. S. Rogers, E. W. Gould, John W.
1 Capt. Weaver died in St. Louis on the 6th of August, 1871,
in the fifty-seventh year of his age. dipt. Weaver arrived in
St. Louis when a young man, and until his death was identified
with the city's steamboat interests. As clerk and then com-
mander, ho was connected with steamers plving on the Missouri
River for more than twenty-five years. As previously stated,
he was elected president of the St. Louis and Omaha Packet
Company, and in connection with Capt. Davidson and others
became one of the owners of the steamer "John Kyle," and in
the fall of 1870 commander of that vessel.
Mortimer, and Samuel Rider. The office is located
on the wharf-boat, foot of Olive Street.
The St. Louis and Peoria Packet Company was
organized on the 3d of February, 1868, its officers at
that time being J. S. McCune, president; A. C.
Dunlevy, secretary ; and F. A. Sheble, general super-
intendent. In 1870 the vessels belonging to the
company were the " Beardstown," Samuel E. Gray,
captain ; " City of Pekin," Thomas Hunter, captain;
" Illinois," S. E. Gray, captain ; " Schuyler," H. G.
Rice, captain ; " Columbia," Joseph Throckmorton,2
captain.
In 1871 the vessels employed by the company
were the " Illinois," " City of Pekin," " Huntsville"
and barges, " P. W. Strader" and barges, and " Beards-
town."
The St. Louis, Cincinnati, Huntington and
Pittsburgh Packet Company, whose headquarters
1 Capt. Joseph Throckmorton was born on the 16th of June,
1800, in Monmouth County, N. J. As a lad he entered a mer-
cantile house in New York, but, in company with others, sub-
sequently purchased the steamer ''Red Rover," and made
several trips with her from Pittsburgh to Zanesville, Ohio. The
"Red Rover" was finally sunk in a collision, but was raised and
taken to St. Louis and employed in the Galena trade. While
engaged in the upper Mississippi trade, Capt. Throckmorton
won the friendship of the Indian chief Keokuk, who offered
him nearly all the Flint Hills, afterwards the site of the city
of Burlington, if he would settle there. About 1830 Capt.
Throckmorton, in company with Capt. George W. Atcheson,
built the steamer " Winnebago" at Paducah, and employed
her in the Galena trade until 1832, when he built at Pittsburgh
the steamer " Warrior," and a tow-barge for the accommodation
of passengers. While Capt. Throckmorton was in command of
the " Warrior" the Black Hawk war broke out, and the vessel
was chartered for the transportation of the United States
troops under Gen. Atkinson. At the battle of Bad Axe, which
was the decisive engagement of the war, the captain aud crew
of the " Warrior" were hotly engaged. The " Warrior" con-
tinued in the upper Mississippi trade until 1835, when Capt.
Throckmorton built the steamer " St. Peter," and in 1836 the
"Ariel." During the following year he built the "Burling-
ton," and in 1842 the "General Brooke." In 1845 he sold the
" Brooke" to the American Fur Company, and assumed com-
mand of that company's steamer "Nimrod," but having pur-
chased the " Cecilia," relinquished his position. In 1848 he
built the " Cora,'' which he commanded for a year or two, after
which he acted for four years as the agent of the Tennessee
Insurance Company at St. Louis. He then returned to his
former occupation of steamboat captain, and having built the
" Genon," commanded that vessel from 1854 to 1856. In 1857
he built the " Florence," and in 1864 the " Montana." In the
spring of 1868, Capt. Throekmorton purchased the "Columbia,"
and employed her in the trade between St. Louis and Fort
Benton. He subsequently made several trips with his boat in
the service of the Illinois Packet Company, and finally sold
her to the Arkansas River Packet Company. During the last
two years of his life Capt. Throckmorton was employed by the
United States government, under the command of Col. Macomb,
United States engineer, in the improvement of the upper
Mississippi. He died in December, 1872.
RIVER COMMERCE OF SAINT LOUIS.
1123
are at Pittsburgh, Pa., established an agency in St.
Louis in 1881. It owns and controls the following
boats, which run between Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and
St. Louis: the "Buckeye State," "Pittsburgh,"
" Carrie," and " John L. Rhodes." The company
transacts a general transportation business, carrying
both passengers and freight. The officers are J. M.
Williamson, superintendent, Cincinnati ; and Capt.
W. S. Evans, superintendent, Pittsburgh. Jenkins
& Sass are the agents at St. Louis.
The Gartside Coal and Towing Company was
organized in 1856, and chartered in May, 1873, with
a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. The incor-
porators were James, Charles E., and Joseph Gartside.
The company owns two steam-tugs and ten barges, and
transacts a general coal and transportation business.
The officers in 1882 were Charles E. Gartside, presi-
dent, and James Gartside, secretary and treasurer.
The office is located on the New Orleans Anchor Line
wharf-boat, foot of Pine Street.
The Carter Line (Red River Packet Company)
was established in 1869 by Capt. VV. R. Carter and
Capt. Joseph Conn, who employed the " R. J. Lock-
wood," " Silver Bow," " H. M. Shreve," "Oceanus,"
" M. E. Forsyth," "Lady Lee," "Belle Rowland,"
and " Mary E. Poe." The annual receipts of the
company amounted to about six hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. The ports visited by the line were
landings on the Missouri River, St. Louis, Jefferson,
Shreveport, and New Orleans.
The Merchants' St. Louis and Arkansas River
Packet Company began business in the spring of
1870. The territory embraced within the range of
the company's operations extended from the mouth of
the Arkansas River to Fort Smith, and comprised all
that section south of the river and between it and the
Ouachita, and north of it to the extreme western and
northwestern sections of the State, also from the
mouth of White River to the upper part of it and
the country bordering on Black and Currant Rivers,
reaching almost to the northern line of the State.
The company was incorporated in 1870 with a cap-
ital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and the
following officers were elected :
President, James A. Jackson ; Vice-President, D.
P. Rowland ; Treasurer, George D. Appleton ; Secre-
tary and Superintendent, James D. Sylvester; Direc-
tors, James A. Jackson, D. P. Rowland, Matthew
Moody, W. S. Stover, C. L. Thompson, Louis Fusz,
George D. Appleton, C. N. McDowell, and George
Wolff.
A low-water boat was at once contracted for for the
upper Arkansas River, three steamers purchased, and
the line put in working order. The steamers employed
by the company in 1871 were the " Sallie," " Colum-
bia," " Muncie," " Sioux City," and " Little Rock."
At Little Rock the vessels from St. Louis connected
with the light-draught steamer " Little Rock," which
ran to Fort Smith, thus forming a continuous line of
communication with the extreme western border of
the State.
Ouachita River Packets. — Prior to 1870 St.
Louis had not enjoyed an extensive trade with the
region of country bordering on the Ouachita River.
Hitherto her merchants and shippers had permitted
New Orleans and other Southern cities to monopolize
the business of the Ouachita ports, but in that year
it was determined to send several steamers, loaded at
St. Louis, to that river. The experiment was made,
and the results were such as to establish the entire
practicability of building up a regular and lucrative
trade. The steamers of the line were the " C. H.
Durfee," Frank Dozier, captain ; " Mary McDonald,"
John Greenough, captain ; " Ida Stockdale," J. W.
Jacobs, captain ; " Hesper," J. Ferguson, captain ;
" C. V. Kountz," J. C. Vanhook, captain ; " Tempest,"
D. H. Silver, captain. The " Tempest" was destroyed
on her first trip up the river. H. F. Driller was the
general freight agent of the line. Mr. Driller after-
wards secured two boats for the White River trade,
the " Osage," Capt. William A. Cade, and the " Na-
trona," Capt. George Graham.
VALUE OP STEAMBOATS REGISTERED OR CONTROLLED AT ST.
Louis, Mo., IN 1871.
Memphis and St. Louis Packet Company
Carter Line Packet Company
Northwestern Transportation Company
Wiggins Ferry Company
Northern Line Packet Company
Harbor tow-boats and tugs
St. Louis Sand Company
Gral'ton Stone and Tow Company
Conrad Line (Tennessee Kiver)
North western Union Packet Company
Merchants' Southern Line
Keokuk Packet Compuny
Peoria Packet Compuny
Na [iles Packet Company
Missouri River Packet Company
St. Louis and New Orleans Packet Company (about).
Mississippi Valley Transportation Company
St. Louis and Arkansas River Packet Company
Outside boats (about)
$700,000
250,000
1-40,000
140.500
352,000
86,000
10,000
16,300
33,000
709,000
730.000
450,000
90,000
04,1100
425,000
475,000
205,000
110,000
500,000
Total value $5,428,800
CHAPTER XXVIII.
RIVER COMMERCE OF ST. LOUIS.
BY the terms of the treaty for the cession of
Louisiana to the United States, the full and .complete
navigation of the Mississippi River was secured to
1124
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
the United States. The trade and commerce of the
river at this time (1803-4) were unimportant. New
Orleans and St. Louis were the only towns of any
size upon the Mississippi, the latter having but four-
teen hundred inhabitants in 1811, and the value of
its merchandise and imports amounting to about
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually.
As small a sum as this appears to be, it was princi-
pally owing to the fact that St. Louis was the fitting-
out point for the military and trading establishments
on the Mississippi and Missouri that even this
amount was reached. Peltries, lead, and whiskey
made a large portion of the currency, and the
branches of business were not at all fixed or
definite.1
The establishment of the Bank of St. Louis in
1816, and of the Missouri Bank in 1817, indicates a
great increase of the business of St. Louis, and may
be regarded as fixing an initial point in its trade and
commerce with other sections. In 1821 there were
only four hundred and twenty-nine tax-payers in St.
Louis, and the total taxes levied for the year amounted
to $3823.80.
The prices current of a retail market give but a
partial idea of the business of the community, and
those of St. Louis for Nov. 23, 1816, afford only a
general notion of the market of the town at that
period.
ST. LOUIS RETAIL PRICES CURRENT.
Beef, on foot, per cwt... $4.00
Bread, ship, none
Butter, per pound 25
Beeswax, " "
Candles, " "
Cheese, " "
Cheese, common, per
pound
Boards, none in inar-
.25
.25
.25
Flour, horse-mill, su-
perfine, per cwt $6.00
Grain, wheat, per
bushel 1.00
Grain, rye, per bushel .62i
Grain, barley, per
bushel
Grain, corn, per bush...
Grain, oats,
ket Gunpowder, per Ib
Cider, none in market | Haras,
.75
.37
.37
1.00
.12
.50
.40
1.25
.50
Hides, per piece 2.75
Hogs' lard, per Ib 12
Bears' lard, per gallon.. 1.50
Honey, " " .... 1.00
Coffee, per pound
Cotton, " "
Cotton yarn, No. 10
Feiithers, per pound....
Flour, per barrel, su-
perfine in demand.... 16.00
The annual imports of St. Louis were computed for
1820 "at upwards of $2,000,000," 2 and the Indian
1 John Arthur advertises among "cheap goods" bleached
country cottons, cotton cloth, cotton and wool cards, German
steel, smoothing-irons, ladies' silk bonnets, artificial flowers,
linen duck, muslins, white thread, wool and cotton, a handsome
new gig and harness, cable and cordelle ropes, and that he will
take pay in furs, hides, whiskey, country-made sugar, and bees-
wax, with "a negro girl eighteen years of age also for sale."
And even the editor and proprietor of the only journal west of j
the Mississippi advertises in his sheet that he will keep a house
of entertainment for strangers, where they will find every ac-
commodation except whiskey. He would also take care of eight
or ten horses. — Edwards' (treat West, p. 295.
•Dr. Lewis C. Beck's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1823.
trade of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers was val-
ued at $600,000. The establishment of a Branch
Bank of the United States in 1829 would indicate a
great increase in the trade and commerce of St. Louis
for the decade from 1820 to 1830. In the absence
of statistical records, the only sources of information
on this point are the public journals of that period,
which are filled with the evidence of the great rapid-
ity with which St. Louis was growing in business
and manufactures.
A comparison of the prices current for 1816 with
those for 1835 affords some idea of the progress indi-
cated, as well as of the articles which made up the
trade of St. Louis by the river at that time :
ST. LOUIS PRICES CURRENT FOR 1835.
Ale and porter, bbl $8.00
Bacon, ham, Ib $0.03 @ .09
" hog,round 05£ @ .06
Beans, bush , .75
Beef, bbl 8.00 @ 10.00
Beeswax, Ib 16J @ .17
Butter, Ib 10 @ .12
Castings, ton 70.00
Castor oil, gall 1.35 @ 1.37
Candles, sperm, Ib 40 @ .42
" mould, Ib 13 @ .14
" dipped, Ib 11 @ .12
Clover-seed, bush 7.00 @ 8.00
Coal, bush 10 @ .12
Coffee (in demand), Ib .15J
Cordage, white, Ib 06 @ .08
" manilla, Ib 20 @ .22
Copperas, Ib 02 @ .03
Cotton, Ib 11 @ .12
" yarns, Ib 25 @ .27
Furs, beaver, Ib 3.50
" muskrat-skin 20 @ .25
" deer-skins, shaved, Ib 20 @ .22
in hair, Ib 10 @ .12
" raccoon-skins 30 @ .33
Feathers, Ib 37 @ .40
Flour, superfine Illinois, bbl 4.50 @ 4.75
" superfine Ohio, bbl 4.25 @ 4.50
Mackerel, bbl 6.00 @ 8.00
Glass, 10 x 12, box 5.00 @ 5.25
" 8 x 10, box 4.00 @ 4.25
Grain, wheat, bush 60 @ .62
Corn, bush 45 @ .50
Molasses, gall 35 @ .37
Nails, cut, Ib 06J @ .07
Oil, sperm, gall 65 @ .70
' linseed, gall 1.00 @ 1.12
" tanners', bbl 18.00 @ 20.00
Pork, mess, bbl 11.00 @ 12.00
" prime, bbl 10.50 @ 11.00
Potatoes, bush 25 @ .37
Rice, Ib 05 @ .06
Sugar, Ib 09 @ .10
loaf, Ib 15 @ .17
" Havana, Ib
" white, Ib 12 @ .13
Salt, Liverpool, bushel of 50 Ibs 85 @ .90
" ground, bushel of 50 Ibs 70 @ .75
" Turk's Island, bushel of 50 Ibs.. .62 @ .65
" Kanawhn, bushel of 50 Ibs 45 @ .50
Shot, bag 1.50 @ 1.62
Cognac brandy, gall 1.25 @ 1.75
American brandy, gal] 75 @ 1.00
Peach brandy, gall 1.25
Holland gin. gall 1.25 @ 1.50
Common gin, gall.. .50 @ .60
New Orleans rum, gall 50 @ .55
Jamaica rum, gall 1.10 @ 1.15
Whiskey, corn, gall 28 @ .30
" rye, gall 40 @ .45
RIVER COMMERCE OF SAINT LOUIS.
1125
Tallow, lb $0.08 @ $0.09
Tar, bbl 4.50 @ 5.00
Tea, Gunpowder, lb 1.25 @ 1.33
'• Imperial, lb 1.20 (g) 1.30
" Young Hyson l.CO @ 1.06
Gunpowder, Dupont's, keg 7.00
" Kentucky & Delaware,
keg 6.50
Hides, dried, lb 11 @ .12
Iron, Missouri and Juniata, ton
2000 Ibs 120.00
Lard, lb .06
Lead, bar, lb .06
" pig, lb .0-1$
" white, in oil ^in demand), keg. 2.75
Linentow,yd , 13 @ .14
" flax, yd 20 @ .22
Vinegar, bbl 4.00 @ 5.00
Wine, Madeira, gall 3.00 @ 4.00
" Teneriife, gall 1.00 @ 1.25
" S. Madeira, gall 1.50 @ 1.75
" Port, gall 2.00 @ 2.50
" Malaga, gall 70 @ .75
" champagne, doz 14.00 @ 18.00
" claret, doz 4.00 @ 4.50
Provision market:
Beef, lb .05
Veal, lb .08
Mutton, lb .06
Butter, lb .12$
Eggs, doz .ll|
Chickens, full grown .25
" young .12$
The steamboat register for 1835 shows the
number of different steamboats to have
been 121
Aggregate tonnage 15,470
Number of entries '803
Wharfage collected $4,573.60
Wood and lumber liable to wharfage:
Plank, joists, and scantlings 1,414,330 feet.
Shingles 148,000
Cedar posts (S's) 7,706
Cords of firewood 8,066
A comparison of these figures with the same items
for 1831 shows an increase of more than one hundred
per cent.
The panic of 183*7 was attended with the ruin of
thousands of people all over the country, and with
the prostration of the business, trade, and commerce of
St. Louis. The arrivals and departures of steamboats
for 1839, however, were: arrivals, two thousand and
ninety-five ; departures, sixteen hundred and forty-
five.1
1 The Jtepnllican of June 4, 1836, describes the commercial
condition of St. Louis at that time as follows:
"At no prior time has this city exhibited so many signs of
improvement as are now daily seen. Capital is finding its way
to us, and large investments are made in real estate, not, we
feel assured, with a view to speculation, which benefits no one
but those who are parties in it, but with the design of improv-
ing it. The sale of lots in Christy's addition to the town
amounted on the first two days to one hundred and one thou-
sand dollars. It was continued yesterda)', and will probably
reach one hundred and forty thousand dollars. Other sales of
property bordering on the town have recently been made
amounting to many thousands of dollars. Block No. 13, with
three or four houses upon it, fronting upon Main and Water
Streets, sold ten or twelve days ago for two hundred and forty
thousand dollars, and other property in the business part of the
city went for equally fair prices. We say fair prices, for they
72
It is impossible to give any concise statement of
the amount of the river trade of St. Louis, but some
of the leading and principal items for the year 1840
will afford an approximate idea of the volume of busi-
ness then transacted. From 1831, when the first in-
surance office was established, to 1840 the marine
risks amounted to $58,021,986. This sum does not
include the whole amount of property at risk, because
some of the boats and cargoes were insured at the
East and South, and some were not insured at all.
The estimate of property uninsured was put at thirty-
three and one-third per cent., which would raise the
value to $77,362,648. The receipts of lead at St.
Louis for 1839 were 375,000 pigs; for 1840, 390,-
000 pigs; and for 1841,395,000 pigs. A pig of
lead averaged sixty-nine pounds, and was estimated
at three and one-half cents per pound, making the
value of this trade for 1841, $13,825, and for the
three years nearly $50,000. " At least 8500 hogs-
heads of tobacco" passed St. Louis, with a value of
$912,500. There were shipped from St. Louis 80,-
000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 barrels of flour,
valued at $610,000.
When to these figures are added those for the trade
in beef, pork, bacon, lard, butter, corn, live-stock,
buffalo robes, furs, skins, and peltries, hemp, bag-
ging, bale-rope, and the many other articles that
comprise the industry of a growing community but
of which there exist no statistics, it will be seen that
are by no means so extravagant as have been obtained in other
AVestern towns, and are such as will justify the purchasers in
making permanent improvements upon the property. In many
cases it is their intention to do so.
"We have made some inquiry, and have found that upwards
of two hundred houses are now building in the city. They are
started in every direction, and it is probable that another hun-
dred will be put up during the season if contracts can be made
for them. One or two churches are to be erected, a splendid
theatre is under way, and a female seminary is to be commenced.
Many of the buildings will be handsomely finished for stores
and extensive warehouses, and it is to be hoped that before
another year passes away we shall be able to furnish houses for
the numerous business men who arc desirous of making estab-
lishments here. Our country friends who are engaged in mer-
cantile pursuits have in many instances determined to make
their purchases hereafter at St. Louis, as the competition and
increase of business has satisfied them that they can do so to
better advantage than in the Atlantic cities. Useful and
extensive manufactories are starting up at every point, and in
a short time we shall be independent of other places for our
steam-engines and other materials of daily use. The corporate
societies are not behind our citizens in making improvements.
The whole line of the wharf is rapidly being macadamized, and
before the winter sets in it will present a better appearance than
any port in the Western country. Many contracts are made
for paving the streets, and two or three years of industry will
bring about the completion of this work throughout the city."
1126
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
St. Louis had in 1840 made considerable progress
on the road to that commercial prosperity which she
now enjoys. The imports were valued at from ten to
fifteen millions of dollars.
A slight idea may be gathered of the trade of
St. Louis in 1843 from the following table, which
exhibits the imports and exports of the city from the
13th of January up to the 12th of August, 1843 :
Imports. Exports.
Beeswax, bbls 470 777
" Ibs 36,007 26,655
Buffalo robes, bales 8,983 4,186
Corn, sacks 28,091 27,688
Flour, bbls 59,965 88,393
Hemp, bales 26,947 17,629
Lead, pigs 398,225 397,213
Lard, bbls 10,751 19,243
" kegs 15,581 18,337
Oil lard, bbls 559 3,060
Pork, bbls 16,633 30,097
Tobacco, hhds 14,599 13,498
"Wheat, bbls 58,777 22,241
" sacks 78,299 27,945
The receipts of tobacco for the year 1842 were
1754 hogsheads, of which 1645 hogsheads were sold,
leaving on hand on the 1st of January, 1843, 109
hogsheads.
In the Prices Current for 1844 the population is
estimated at 40,000, and the registered tonnage at
20,420 tons, against 14,729 tons in the year 1842,
thus showing an increase in less than three years of
nearly 40 per cent. This tonnage was the property
of citizens of St. Louis, and it may be safely said that
at least as much more was employed in its trade and
commerce the property of other cities. The arrivals
during the year amounted to 2613, against 2105 the
previous year, showing an increase of 508 arrivals.
The annual trade of St. Louis was then estimated at
§50,000,000. Nearly 47,000 bags of coffee, 11,000
hogsheads of sugar, 758,000 pigs of lead, 31,000
bales of hemp, 13,000 hogsheads of tobacco, 132,000
barrels of flour, and nearly a million bushels of wheat
were imported into St. Louis in 1843, being an average
increase of nearly 20 per cent, on that of the previous
year.
The harbor-master's report for 1845 shows that
during the year there were 2050 steamboat arrivals
in the harbor of St. Louis, with an aggregate tonnage
of 358,045 tons, and 346 arrivals of keel- and flat-
boats, and that the trade of the city was carried on
by 213 steamboats, with an aggregate tonnage of
42,922 tons.
From the same report there has been compiled the
following table of the places from whence these ves-
sels came, showing the arrivals from each quarter for
each month, as follows :
New Ohio Illinois M.Y:^fnrni Missouri Other
Orleuns. Kiver. lliver. Mlsl J? * ''pl Itiver. Points.
In January 17 5 15
February 13 13 20
March 27 42 57
April 24 39 36
May 35 49 52
June 27 33 29
July 16 46 26
August 20 44 26
September.... 25 38 7
October 22 45 13
November 21 47 17
December 3 5
250 406 298
Biver.
1558
12 2 7
67 11 S
75 23 10
102 49 13
66 42 21
58 29 18
63 25 22
60 22 19
48 20 16
74 20 24
311
647 249
167
From the foregoing it appears that during 1845
there were 250 steamboat arrivals from New Orleans ;
406 from different ports on the Ohio River, including
arrivals from the Cumberland and Tennessee ; 278
from ports on the Illinois River ; 647 from ports on
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri, not
including the daily trip of the Alton packet; 249
from ports on the Missouri River; and 168 from
other points, chiefly from Cairo and intermediate
ports between that point and St. Louis.
During the year 1848-49, St. Louis began to
receive heavy shipments of the products of the
Southern States, and orders for articles hitherto
sent to other cities were sent to the merchants,
manufacturers, and mechanics of St. Louis. Direct
communication with the lakes and the Canadas
also presented great advantages to the shipping
and commercial interests of the city. The total
receipts of tobacco by the river for the period of
five years, from 1844 to 1849, was 49,918 hogs-
heads, an exhibit which shows " a steady decrease
in the production of that staple in the State of
Missouri since 1844." The decrease in the pro-
duction of tobacco was compensated by an increase
in that of hemp, the entire crop of which in 1846
was 80,000 bales, of which 47,152 bales were re-
ceived by the river. The receipts of lead by the
river were, for 1847, 749,128 pigs, and for 1848,
705,718 pigs. The receipts of flour by the river for
1847 were 328,568 barrels and 686 half-barrels, and
for 1848 they were 387,314 barrels and 541 half-
barrels. In addition the city mills produced 400,000
barrels. The total production was over 700,000 bar-
rels, which, at $4.25 per barrel, made an aggregate
value of $2,975,000. The wheat crop of 1847-48
was an unusually fine one throughout the river States,
and the receipts by way of the river for 1847 were
2,432,377 bushels, and for 1848, 2,194,798 bushels.
The receipts of corn by the river were, for 1847,
1,016,318 bushels, and for 1848, 699,693 bushels.
The Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1847-48,
drawing off 316,625 bushels. The receipts of oats
RIVER COMMERCE OF SAINT LOUIS.
1127
for 1847 were 202,365 bushels, and for 1848, 243,700
bushels. '' Of the entire shipments from this city,"
it was stated about this time, " it is computed that fully
three-fourths reach the city of New Orleans." The
beef receipts for 1848 were 9381 tierces, 7876 bar-
rels, and 47 half-barrels ; and of pork, 97,662 barrels
and 1923 half-barrels, together with 25,820 casks,
3603 hogsheads, 2847 barrels, 3775 boxes of bacon.
Of lard there were received 6579 tierces, 67,329
barrels, and 14,180 kegs, showing an immense im-
provement in the provision trade. The lumber trade
for 1847 amounted to 16,917,850 feet, and for 1848
to 22,137,915 feet; shingles for 1847, 13,098,800,
and for 1848, 15,851,500. There were also 42,282
cords of wood received by the river in 1847, and
38,857 cords in 1848. Of coal the receipts by river
in 1847 were 1,454,048 bushels, and in 1848, 1,623,-
687 bushels.
As elsewhere stated more in detail, two calamities
visited St. Louis in the year 1849, the cholera and
the great conflagration of steamboats and other prop-
erty on the 17th of May, which exerted a disastrous
influence on every branch of her trade, commerce,
and business. A mortality of seven thousand eight
hundred and twenty-one persons and the destruction
of three million three hundred and thirty-five thou-
sand four hundred and fifty dollars of property could
not but have administered a check to enterprise and
retarded progress. It is surprising, however, to note
the alacrity, energy, and perseverance which were ex-
hibited by the people of St. Louis in repairing the
losses and obliterating the evidences of these visita-
tions. Before the expiration of six months com-
merce, if not fully recovered, at least exhibited no
signs of impairment, but was in full motion, and all the
routine of mercantile affairs was in active operation.
The estimated value of thirty-one of the leading
articles of produce received at the port of St. Louis
during the year 1849, with total valuation, is as
follows :
AllTICLKS.
Aggregate Amount.
Average Rate.
Estimated Value.
Tobacco, leaf
9,879 hhds
$50.00 per hhd . ..
$493 950 00
" manufactured
5,904 boxes
15.00 " box
88 560 00
9,258 tons
110 00 " ton
1 018 380 00
Lead T
16,428 tons
85.40 " ton
1 402 951 20
Flour
306,412 bbls
4.20 " bbl
1 286 930 40
Wheat
1,792,535 bush
.80 ' bush
1 434 028 00
Corn
305 333 bush
31 ' bush
94 653 23
Otits
252 291 bush .
28 ' bu«b
70 641 58
J&rley
92,463 bush
.70 ' bush
64 724 10
Ifove
5,844 bush
.40 ' bush
2 337 60
Behns
9,078 bush
.40 ' bush
2,731 20
Beef
10,687 tierce."
9.00 ' tierce
96 183 00
><
12 336 Ibis .
8 00 " bbl
98 688 00
Pork
113,862 bbls
8.00 " bbl
920 896 00
" bulk
9 651,656 Ibs
.02i " lb
241 291 40
Lard
15,801 tierces
17.50 " tierce
276 517 50
f"
58,270 bbls
1300 " bbl
757 510 00
M
18,845 kegs
3 50 keg
64 957 50
Bacon
16,880 casks
30.00 cask
580 400 00
3,245 bbls. and boxes...
12.50 box and bbl
40 562 50
Pickled hams and shoulders
10,564 casks
14 56 cask
153 178 00
Whiskey
29,085 bbls
7.50 bbl
217 997 50
Tallow
721,460 Ibs
.06J lb
48 698 55
Butter
1,255,280 Ibs
.OS£ lb
106 698 80
19,065 coils
7.25 coil
142 21 1 25
1,079 pieces
15 106 00
103 500 bush. .
.30 bush
31 050 00
Onions
21,350 bush
.50 bush
10 675 00
Grease
351,851 Ibs
.03J lb
12 314 78
Hide?, dry and green
Hay
68,902
920 tons
1.80 oa h
16.00 p r ton
124,033.60
14 720 00
Flaxseed
26,500 bush
.85 bush
22,525 00
Feather?
62,340 Ibs
.28 lb
17 455 20
Brooms
1 1,023 dozens '.
1.60 doz....
17 636 SO
Dried fruit
63,102 bush
.90 bush. .
56 791 80
Green apples
Wool
20,583 bbls
1,274 bales
1.50 bbl
22.50 bale ..
30,874.50
28 665 90
$10 087 327 99
During 1849 the arrivals of steamboats at St.
Louis were: From New Orleans, 313; Ohio River,
401; Illinois River, 686; upper Mississippi, 806;
Missouri River, 355 ; Cairo, 122 ; other points, 217.
The total number of arrivals of steamboats and
barges in 1848 was 3468 ; in 1849, 2975 ; of keel-
1128
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
and flat-boats in 1848, 332, and in 1849, 166. The
total tonnage of steamboats and barges in 1848 was
688,213, and in 1849, 633,892.
The prevalence of yellow fever at New Orleans in
1853 proved a serious check to the river trade of St.
Louis, and the difficulty of shipping crews, except at
enhanced wages, threw a large amount of tonnage out
of the trade and advanced freights to a high figure.
All descriptions of agricultural products ruled un-
usually high in prices, and the farmers reaped a rich
reward for their enterprise and industry, the profits
realized enabling them to enlarge the area of cultiva-
tion, to improve their residences, and to invest to a
large extent in the railroad enterprises that were then
being projected in every direction through the West.
In this year (1853) the statistics and transactions of
a railroad were reported for the first time in connec-
tion with the river trade. The Missouri Pacific
Railroad was that year completed a distance of forty
miles, through a section of country which, though
contiguous to St. Louis, had not been brought under
cultivation. Without a farm along its line, and with
its western terminus in a dense forest, this great
railroad began to connect the Mississippi with the
"back country," and overpaid the expenses of
transportation more than ten thousand dollars, fore-
shadowing the immense profits from the investment.
The " receipts per Pacific Railroad" were : Tobacco,
48 hogsheads and 3 boxes ; lead, 1556 pigs; iron,
88,350 pounds pig, 530 blooms; wheat, 3418
bushels; hides, 5200 pounds; whiskey, 214 barrels;
wood, 370 cords; wine, 9 casks, 7 barrels, and 8
boxes, native; hubstuff, 25 cords; and hoop-poles,
570,000.
A comparison of the tonnage of Western cities at
the end of the year 1853 will show the rapid strides
that St. Louis had made in the river trade.
The official returns of tonnage, June 30, 1853,
were:
Cincinnati...
Louisville —
Nashville....
St. Louis ....
Tons.
10,191
14,166
3,414
45,441
Decrease from 1851
Increase " "
Decrease " "
Increase " "
Tons.
3,996
1,229
163
11,136
These returns also show that St. Louis had then
more steam tonnage than Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louis-
ville, New Albany, Nashville, and Memphis combined.
The arrivals of vessels at St. Louis for 1853 num-
bered 3307, or 529 more than at New Orleans.1
The official returns of tonnage for the year ending
June 30, 1854, give the following table of steam ton-
nage, showing the amount enrolled at several ports,
viz. :
1 "Thoughts about St. Louis," by John Hogan, pp. 6 and 7.
Tons.
New York 101,487.41
New Orleans 57,174.54
St. Louis 48,557.51
Philadelphia 24,523.93
Cincinnati 23,842.73
Louisville 20,122.89
Mobile 18,110.40
Baltimore 14,451.14
Nashville 5,726.73
Wheeling 4,127.89
New Albany 2,952.31
Memphis 1,894.80
St. Louis was then the third city in the Union in
the amount of enrolled steam tonnage, nearly doub-
ling Philadelphia, with more than Philadelphia and
Baltimore combined, with more than Cincinnati, Louis-
ville, and Wheeling together, and paying duties on
foreign imports amounting to more than seven hundred
thousand dollars.2
The navigation of the rivers in the West was im-
peded to a greater extent and for a longer period in
1860 that ever before within the recollection of the
oldest boatmen. This condition of the rivers led to
action on the part of St. Louis merchants, which for
a while induced the hope that new and entirely differ-
ent methods were about to be adopted. The necessity
of changing the mode of handling grain consigned to
the merchants of St. Louis had long been felt, and
the commission houses and millers of the city had be-
come convinced that sacks should be dispensed with,
and that grain should be transported in bulk. The
Chamber of Commerce aided in the movement by pre-
senting a memorial to the City Council requesting it
to grant an elevator privilege to Messrs. Henry and
Edgar Ames and Albert Pearce, who had offered to
construct upon their own responsibility two elevators
upon the Levee, — one near the foot of Carr Street,
in the northern part of the city, and the other near
the foot of Myrtle Street, in the southern part. The
elevators were to have been of the most approved con-
struction and material, with a capacity of half a million
bushels each, and to have been exclusively used for
the storage of grain in bulk. The City Council, after
an able report from a special committee of that body
had been submitted, promptly passed the ordinance,
but it was vetoed by the mayor, and the inauguration
of the elevator system of handling grain in St. Louis
was postponed until 1863.
The subject of bridging the Mississippi at Rock
Island, which had been under discussion for several
years, was brought before the Hon. I. M. Love,
judge of the District Court of the United States,
who decided at the April term of the court in 1860
" that that portion of the railroad bridge across the
Mississippi River at or near Davenport, within the
2 Ibid.
RIVER COMMERCE OF SAINT LOUIS.
1129
State of Iowa, being part of the bridge commonly called
the Rock Island bridge, and which is part of the Missis-
sippi and Missouri Railroad, is a common and public
nuisance, and a material impediment and obstruction
to the navigation of said river by steamboats and other
craft," and ordered it to be removed. This action of
the court was approved by the St. Louis Chamber of
Commerce, and the connecting of the railroad systems
east with those west of the Mississippi was postponed ,
until a period of more enlightened ideas with regard
to transportation had arrived.
In consequence of low water during I860, freights
on the upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois ruled
very high, and there was an increase in marine dis-
asters, reaching as high as two hundred and ninety-
nine boats, with a loss of life amounting to two hun-
dred and fifty-four.
The arrivals and departures of vessels at St. Louis
during 1859 and 1860 were:
1859.
1860.
Upper Mississippi
.... 1,501
1,524
Lower Mississippi
.... 616
767
Missouri
... 396
269
Illinois
... 679
544
Ohio
.... 367
277
Tennessee
58
3t
Cumberland
31
35
Arkansas
7
Barges, canal- and flat-boats..
.... 1,397
1,724
Total
... 5,045
5,178
Departures
5,104
5,218
Tonnage
768,905
844,039
During the period of the civil war (1861-65) there
was almcst complete stagnation in the river trade and
a general paralysis of the industries and commerce of
St. Louis. The condition of affairs, industrial as well
as political, during the great crisis of the nation's his-
tory, is fully set forth in the chapter on the civil war.
The following, however, is a copy of circular instruc-
tions issued by C. G. Memminger, Secretary of the
Treasury of the Southern Confederacy, in March,
1861, relating to the commerce of the Mississippi.
These instructions related to importations from places
north of the then so-called Confederate States. Vessels
descending the river were required to come to at Nor-
folk, or Nelson's Landing, on the Mississippi, and the
master was to report the arrival to the collector, exhibit-
ing duplicate manifests of the whole cargo and declaring
the name of the vessel, name of master, where from,
the port of destination, and a full and particular de-
scription of the cargo. A custom-house officer was
required to board vessels and demand the manifests
mentioned. These manifests were to be certified by
the collector or boarding- officer, and one of them re-
turned to the master. The manifest returned by the
custom-house officer was to be sent to the collector of
the port of final destination. If there were on board
and intended for delivery at points other than ports
of entry or delivery goods not subject to duty they
could be landed, provided the master gave to the first
revenue officer a schedule in duplicate of the articles,
describing them, quantity and value, name of con-
signee, and place where to be landed. On one of
these schedules, directed to be returned to the master,
the officer was to indorse a landing permit. The in-
structions were in part as follows:
" Masters of flat-boats, with coal bulk intended for points as
above, must give under oath to the collector at Norfolk a
schedule in duplicate, setting forth name of boat, owner, master,
where from, quality, quantity, and value, and the fact of its
being intended to be landed at places other than ports of entry
or delivery. On these schedules the collector will estimate the
duties payable ; and on payment of the duties at Norfolk, will
indorse on the original schedule (to be returned to the master)
a certificate of pnymcnt and permit to land the goods.
"Should any portion of the cargo of vessels arriving as afore-
said, composed of dutiable or free articles, be destined to ports
of entry or delivery other than the port of final destination, per-
mission may be obtained to land the same under the following
regulations :
"The master shall present to the revenue officer at Norfolk
a schedule in tr plicate of the goods, describing them by marks
and numbers, numbers of packages and contents, correspond-
ing with the description in the general manifest of the vessel,
also stating the consignee and name of the port of destination
of the merchandise.
"Should the merchandise be intended to be landed at more
than one intermediate port, then separate schedules of the
goods destined for each port to be made out in triplicate, with
all the particulars before required, shall be presented j and the
revenue officers to certify on each of the schedules the fact of
presentation, and also on the original to indorse his permission
for the vessel to land at the port or ports designated the goods
described in said schedule. The original shall be then returned
to the master or commander.
" On the arrival of the vessel at an intermediate port, the
master or commander is to present to revenue officer the origi-
nal schedule, and will receive a general permit to land tho
goods upon their being duly entered and special landing per-
mits issued, as now provided by law for the landing of imported
merchandise. Should the vessel arrive out of business hours,
or should circumstances compel it, the master is permitted to
deposit the goods either in a bonded warehouse or the custody
of a revenue officer, and shall receive a receipt containing all
the particulars of the schedule, and the original schedule shall
be delivered to the person with whom tho merchandise is de-
posited, and by him delivered over to the collector or chief
revenue officer as soon as tho opening of the custom-house will
admit.
" On the arrival of the vessel at the port of final destination, tho
master or commander shall make due entry at the custom-house
by delivering his original manifest, together with all schedules
indorsed with the permits to land at intermediate ports, and
the receipts of officers to whom any goods may have been de-
livered, or any other documents showing the disposition of any
portion of the cargo ; and the residue of the cargo shall be
landed on permits similar to those provided by law for the land-
ing of imported merchandise; and the total cargo, as shown
by the original manifest, shall be delivered at this port, with the
1130
HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.
exception of such as is shown by the documents presented at
the tiino of entry to have been landed elsewhere, under the
penalties now provided by law for discrepancies existing in the
cargoes of vessels arriving from foreign ports.
" In order to relieve vessels in this branch of importing trade
from embarrassments, all goods imported therein remaining un-
claimed, or for which no entry shall be made or permit granted
within twenty-four hours after arrival, may be taken possession
of by the collector and deposited in a bonded warehouse, on a
general permit to be issued by him for that purpose.
" To afford further facilities in the event of vessels in this
trade arriving nt the port of final destination before the open-
ing or after the closing of the custom-house for the day, and
a necessity exists for discharging the cargo, it shall be law-
ful to deposit the same or any part thereof, at the risk and ex-
pense of said vessel, on the levee, in the charge of the inspec-
tion service of the customs, or in any bonded warehouse at the
port, such portion of said cargo as may be practicable, the
master or commander of the vessel obtaining for the goods so
deposited a receipt from the inspection officer on the Levee, or
the custom officer in charge of the warehouse, which receipt
shall be delivered to the collector of customs as soon thereafter
as the business hours of the custom-house at said port will
permit.
" Any goods, wares, or merchandise imported as aforesaid may
be entered at the port of destination on the presentation to the
collector of the bill or bills of lading, together with the other
documen